FlyNamibia November 2023

A monthly wrap-up of News Worth Knowing

TELECOM TO ROLL OUT 500 NEW TOWERS TO IMPROVE COVERAGE

Telecom Namibia plans to roll out 500 new mobile towers in the next five years as part of its plan to improve infrastructure and increase mobile coverage in the country.

The telecommunications company’s rollout of mobile towers is in line with its existing plan to lay out fibre worth N$300 million.

“For Telecom Namibia, we have taken two strategies, the first one is our mobile coverage in the next five years we need to be rolling out 500 new mobile sites, secondly, it is on the fibre rollout we have the biggest footprint in terms of fibre in the country and we've got a N$300 million plan for fibre rollout across the whole country,” Telecom Namibia CEO Stanley Shanapinda said.

Telecom Namibia is planning to more than double its investment in network upgrades under its Integrated Strategic Business Plan, aiming to make its data and interconnection faster, increasingly reliable, and more secure.

The telecommunications company has initiated several projects to upgrade its core, backbone, and backhaul networks, including the replacement of legacy access systems with next-generation access systems capable of delivering high-speed data transmission.

Telecom Namibia has stated that it requires N$2.371 billion in funding to sustain its capital projects from 2023 to 2027. It is reported that there are 1.37 million internet users in Namibia while internet penetration stands at 53.0% with a total of 2.81 million active cellular mobile connections.

CRAN PROPOSES SCRAPPING TAX ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has proposed the removal of tax on some electronic devices to ensure affordability and accessibility.

The regulator’s Chief Executive Officer, Emilia Nghikembua, said CRAN is working on a study that will be issued to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to review taxes that are imposed on some of the devices.

“(A document) will be issued to our Ministry so that the Ministry can exempt some of the taxes that are imposed on the devices and the hope is that we can then flood the market with those affordable devices so that we can then address the issue of affordability of devices,” she said.

On that same note, Nghikembua highlighted that the affordability of devices is only a small part of creating accessibility to the internet.

She said some regions are outliers when it comes to internet connectivity with connectivity as low as 49% for regions such as Kunene, Otjozondjupa, Kavango West and Omaheke.

“Some of the work that we have done is that firstly we have just awarded additional spectrum to the operators so that they can increase, especially 4G connectivity… And this is why the new license conditions that we have posted are to improve connectivity in those regions,” Nghikembua said.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, 49% of the Namibian population still has no access to the internet.

FISH EXPORTS SURGE TO N$1.2 BILLION IN AUGUST

Namibia's fish and aquatic exports, including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic invertebrates, reached a total value of N$1.2 billion in August with the majority of exports destined for Spain.

The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) reports that the N$1.2 billion includes N$14.3 million from re-exports, while imports of the same commodities amounted to N$45.5 million during the same month.

According to the Namibia Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin for August 2023, the country imported N$45.5 million worth of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic invertebrates in August 2023, with a significant portion coming from South Africa.

During the second quarter of 2023, Namibia's fishing industry experienced remarkable growth, with exports reaching N$4.1 billion compared to N$3.2 billion during the same period the previous year.

MARY VILAKAZI BECOMES THE FIRST WOMAN TO HEAD FIRSTRAND

FirstRand has announced key leadership changes at the group, with both group CEO Alan Pullinger and FNB CEO Jacques Celliers moving on from their roles.

According to the group, Alan Pullinger will step down as group chief executive officer (CEO) and will be succeeded by Mary Vilakazi, currently group chief operating officer (COO).

FNB CEO Jacques Celliers will be stepping down and taking up a new role taking executive responsibility for the group’s fintech strategy. He will be succeeded by FirstRand group chief financial officer, Harry Kellan.

The changes will take effect from 1 April 2024.

Vilakazi joined FirstRand as group COO in 2018 from MMI Holdings, where she held the roles of chief financial officer (CFO) and deputy CEO.

As one of three FirstRand executive directors, she has worked closely with Pullinger on strategy execution and successfully led a number of key growth and diversification strategies.

GIPF INVESTS N$2.2BN IN NAMIBIA’S RENEWABLE SECTOR

Namibia’s largest pension fund, the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) has to date committed N$2.2 billion (US$123 million) and invested N$1,110 million (around US$62.15 million) in the country’s renewable energy sector, official figures reveal.

The investments by the Fund –with assets of over N$159.5 billion (US$9 billion) as of 31 July 2023 – mainly in solar energy, have to date created a generation capacity of 104.42 megawatts.

According to the GIPF, it is also looking into the possibility of investing in wind generation, with total renewable energy projects in the pipeline worth N$134 million (around US$7.8 million).

According to the GIPF, it only considers projects that meet its financial return (hurdle rate) requirements, and which also have a defensive position such as reliable off-takers. One such project is the Omburu Solar Power Station which was connected to the national grid in March last year and is located in Omaruru.

Omburu consists of 33,000 solar panels and 100 inverters and can supply 20,000 Namibian households with clean renewable energy via the NamPower grid.

Omaruru was deemed an ideal location for the power station, following an Environmental Impact Assessment, which is mandatory for all projects that could have a significant impact on the environment. Omaruru was found to be an ideal location for a solar plant due to the region’s sparse annual rainfall, which translates to an abundance of sunshine.

The Omburu Solar Power Station experiences around 8,760 hours of sunshine annually, with approximately 300 sunny days out of 365, and 33% of these hours provide maximum output.

AVIATION TRAINING CENTRE AT KEETMANSHOOP TO COMMENCE OPS IN 2024

The African Civil Aviation Centre of Excellence (CoE) should be able to commence operations in July next year, a feasibility study conducted through collaboration between Tampere University of Finland and the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) has revealed.

The report estimates that in its first year, the centre will be able to train 114 people and 766 in the year 2028.

In terms of revenue, the centre is projected to generate N$3,984,700 in the year 2024 and N$59,898,000 by the year 2028.