Blog – Page 7 – News Stand

27 Mar

Legit, Swagga join Pepkor’s growing fashion empire

info_e12wt4csObserver Money

CHAMWE KAIRA Pepkor has signed a transaction agreement with Retailability Proprietary Limited to acquire the Legit, Swagga, Style, and Boardmans businesses. These businesses will be added to Pepkor’s Speciality business unit, which already includes Tekkie Town, Shoe City, Dunns, Refinery, CODE, SPCC, and Ayana. Pepkor Speciality operates 941 stores across South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini. Retailability is a privately owned retail group offering affordable apparel and lifestyle products. The acquired brands operate 462 stores in the same five countries. The Edgars, Edgars Beauty, Red Square, Kelso, and Keedo brands are not part of the deal and will remain…

27 Mar

Rising credit losses threaten FNB earnings

info_e12wt4csObserver Money

CHAMWE KAIRA Simonis Storm Securities said FirstRand Namibia’s earnings growth remains solid, but rising credit impairments and margin pressure are cause for caution. In a recent report, the firm said the second half of the year is likely to be weaker due to higher provisioning costs and a decline in base effects. Despite this, strong capital buffers and diverse revenue streams support the bank’s stability and position it well for a changing economic environment. FirstRand Namibia posted strong interim results, driven by loan book growth, disciplined cost control, and resilient non-interest income. “The economic backdrop remains favourable, with rate cuts…

27 Mar

NBL forecasts 110% increase in operating profit

info_e12wt4csObserver Money

Namibia Breweries Limited disclosed that according to paragraph 3.4 (b) of the Listing requirements of the Namibia Securities Exchange, shareholders were advised that the group’s operating profit for the eighteen months, ended 31 December 2024, is expected to increase by between 110% and 115% compared to the twelve-month comparative financial period. “This increase is driven by strong performance from the new portfolio. Over the eighteen-month period, growth was constrained by higher net financing costs and increased tax expenses, leading to a more moderate increase in headline earnings of between 91% and 96%,” the company said. The company said as a…

27 Mar

Debmarine faces turbulent times

info_e12wt4csObserver Money

CHAMWE KAIRA Debmarine Namibia, the country’s largest taxpayer, faced a difficult year in 2024 due to falling international diamond prices and weak economic conditions in major markets such as the US, China, and India. The market instability forced the company to reduce its diamond production and shorten its market forecast window from two years to just two months. Debmarine presented the global outlook and its impact on natural diamond demand to stakeholders in Windhoek recently. Chief executive officer Willy Mertens said the global growth outlook remains stable but noted that US tariffs continue to create uncertainty. He said there was…

27 Mar

Strong demand for nuclear energy

info_e12wt4csObserver Money

CHAMWE KAIRA The Namibian uranium industry continues to benefit from strong global demand for nuclear energy, driven by efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy security. Decarbonisation refers to reducing or eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from processes such as manufacturing and energy production. Paladin Energy said in a presentation that nuclear energy is the second-largest source of global clean energy and produces almost no carbon emissions. In the United States, nuclear power supplies nearly half of clean energy. During COP28 and COP29, 31 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and France, committed to tripling nuclear power capacity by…

27 Mar

Eskom adds 800MW to the grid

info_e12wt4csObserver Money

Eskom has announced the successful addition of Kusile Power Station’s final unit, Unit 6, to the national grid. This achievement marks a crucial step toward completing one of South Africa’s largest infrastructure projects and is a key milestone in Eskom’s strategic objective of adding 2500MW of new capacity to the grid by March 2025. Kusile Power Station will contribute a total of 4800 MW to the national grid once all units are fully operational, making it South Africa’s largest infrastructure project. Its sister project, Medupi, will see its Unit 4 return 800MW by the end of April 2025 from an…

26 Mar

Former fisheries minister and PA deny corruption in fishing quotas

info_e12wt4csMain

Ester Mbathera Former Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen and his former personal assistant, Leevy Lee Abrahams, have denied allegations of corruption in the system for allocating fishing quotas. The accusations were made on social media by August Maletzky, director of the African Labour & Human Rights Centre, who claimed Abrahams demanded payments from fishing rights holders in exchange for access to marine resources. Klazen confirmed he was aware of the allegations. “I am also aware of the same allegations against myself and many staff members of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, not only recently, but…

26 Mar

AI, WhatsApp fueled fake news in 2024 elections

info_e12wt4csNational News

Allexer Namundjembo Artificial intelligence (AI) and social media platforms like WhatsApp played a major role in fuelling misinformation and disinformation during the 2024 presidential and National Assembly elections. This is according to findings from the Namibia Fact Check project, led by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The project, which ran from November 2024 to March 2025, tracked the spread of false political information across social media platforms. It found that many political parties and public figures either had low social media presence or used their platforms to attack opponents rather than share policies or commitments. “The political parties,…

26 Mar

Parliamentary committee recommends access to markets across the Red Line

info_e12wt4csNational NewsLisha Empowerment, Ministry of Agriculture, Natangwe Ithete

Allexer Namundjembo With the High Court expected to deliver its judgement today on the legal challenge against the veterinary cordon fence (VCF), also known as the Red Line, the 7th Parliamentary Committee on Economics and Public Administration has recommended that citizens should not be barred from moving their animals across the fence. The recommendation is part of a report presented to the National Assembly by committee chairperson Natangwe Ithete this week. It calls on the Ministry of Agriculture and relevant stakeholders to develop a policy framework and amend current legislation to allow livestock farmers in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs)…

26 Mar

Goraseb questions Public Service Commission’s autonomy

info_e12wt4csNational News

Niël Terblanché Former Brave Warriors midfielder and current civil servant, Sylvester “Lolo” Goraseb, staged a solitary protest in chains at the entrance of the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday morning. The unusual demonstration, which attracted the attention of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), was a protest against what Goraseb described as a lack of structural independence and integrity in Namibia’s public service. Goraseb, who is currently employed within the Department of Public Service Management, raised concerns over the current placement of the Public Service Commission under the Office of the Prime Minister. He argued that this arrangement compromises…