Blog – Page 835 – Windhoek Observer

21 Jul

Credit Guarantee Scheme gazetted

ObserverUncategorisedCredit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (NASRIA)

Staff Writer The long awaited Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), which aims provide collateral cover to qualifying SMEs, was gazzetted last month. The CGS which will be rolled-out in collaboration with the Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (NASRIA) under the Namibia Financial Sector Strategy, with a N$100 million allocation, for which N$2 million will be dedicated to the establishment of a database for SMEs. The facility size will be scaled up over the medium-term through greater public and private sector support. Although SMEs and entrepreneurs will still continue to apply for credit at commercial banks, it is the financial institutions which…

21 Jul

FNB branches revert to rotational operations model

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, FNB Namibia

Staff Writer FNB Namibia has announced that their branches will revert to the rotational operations model for the foreseeable future. “This means that every branch will operate on a 50 percent staff capability only, in order to curb branch activities, thereby assisting government in containing the spread of the virus,” said Rodney Forbes, FNB Executive Officer: Points of Presence. “The spread of COVID-19 is still ongoing and even increasing in some parts of the country. As a responsible corporate citizen, we wish to play our part in limiting the exposure of both our clients and staff to the possibility of…

21 Jul

SADC MPs want value from region’s vast resources

ObserverObserver MoneyAfrica, Members of Parliament, SADC Parliamentary Forum

Moses Magadza WINDHOEK – Africa is the richest continent on earth in terms of extractive resources, but until Members of Parliament up their game and demand meaningfully beneficial deals, their citizens will continue to wallow in abject poverty. Parliamentarians who represent their countries on the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s Standing Committee on Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, came to this conclusion when they held a virtual meeting last week. South African lawmaker Tshitereke Baldwin Matibe chaired the meeting. The continent is awash with massive deposits of extractive resources that include iron ore, petroleum and natural gas, crude oil, diamonds, gold, uranium,…

21 Jul

Civil Rights Icon, advocate for Namibian Independence, dead at age 80

ObserverUncategorisedNamibia, Namibians, SWAPO

… Representative John Lewis passes on Jackie Wilson Asheeke So many Namibians today have never heard of John Lewis. And yet, he and many other members of the US Congressional Black Caucus in the pre-independence days had heard of Namibia. Representative Lewis and many US legislators made speeches regularly denouncing US political and economic support for white supremacy in Africa. Now, John Lewis’ time is passed and he has gone home to a well-earned rest. In the several times I met him during the height of my group’s anti-apartheid work in Washington, DC back in the day, I found him…

21 Jul

Remote jobs can make work visas redundant

ObserverNational NewsMinister of Works and Transport, Namibia

The Minister of Works and Transport has opposed a decision by the board of the Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) about extending contracts of its foreign management staff. There were comments made regarding remote work by the air regulator, which raises eyebrows. The NCAA Chairman of the Board said that one of the South Africans working at the regulator was “advised to work remotely to provide his services. He is currently remunerated accordingly.” This statement tolls the bell of #newnormal. It will soon become ordinary to employ workers who are not in Namibia or are more cheaply employed than locals. The…

21 Jul

Alcohol a burden to police

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Police, Sebastian Ndeitunga

. . . as COVID-19 cases spike Andreas Kathindi The resumption of the alcohol sale in stage 3 and 4 of the state of emergency has been a burden on law enforcement according to head of police, Sebastian Ndeitunga. This comes as South Africa re-banned the selling of alcohol in that country following a spike in COVID-19 cases that has seen it become one of the countries with the highest COVID-19 cases in the world. “It’s a burden to the police. People are just supposed to introspect themselves and ensure self-discipline, and abide to the rules passed to protect their…

21 Jul

COVID death headaches

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Walvis Bay

Andrew Kathindi Government has again been caught ill prepared when it comes to the COVID-19 issue, as it emerged that no contingency plans were made in case the country recorded deaths. This comes as the country as of today (Monday) had now recorded four deaths according to the Ministry of Health, with thirteen cases extremely critical and in need of oxygen support. This comes as the Walvis Bay community has been up in arms with the local authority over its decision to bury the first COVID-19 death in the town. The Ministry leading the COVID-19 task force maintained its role…

17 Jul

Couch kitten: Behind closed doors

ObserverUncategorisedCouch Kitten

Wetumwene Shikage Everyone has identity besides the obvious: your name, last name, hair type, culture, race, skin colour or even family. Well that's not the identity that sticks. One's true identity is found within the mind, soul, personality and way of life. Who are you when you are with yourself? How are you behind closed doors? Recently I read a post on Instagram which said “check on your strongest friends. Are they happy when you are not there?” I realized that this essential. Our friends are not just who we see when we go out. There is more to them…

17 Jul

Has anti-colonial revolution merely replaced the colonial bureaucracy?

ObserverUncategorisedanti-colonial, bureaucracy

Yours Truly Ideologically-Fourth Instalment: Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro It is a big question today in an independent Namibia whether the country, with the attainment of political freedom about 30 years ago on March 21, 1990, she at the same time may also have embarked upon what the late African ideologue from Botswana, Dr. Goabamang Kennetn Koma, would describe as the Second Phase of the African Revolution. This question naturally comes up partly because of the generally imposed and accepted narrative of national resistance as being purely nationalist or patriotic in nature and character. There was little reference during war for independence in…

17 Jul

Abortion

ObserverUncategorisedAbortion, Hugh Ellis

The Time Traveler: Hugh Ellis I have some confessions to make. For a brief while I attended a Catholic school. At this school one of the teachers was, if not fired, let’s say ‘asked to leave’, after sharing pictures of dead fetuses, which were apparently ‘victims of abortions’, with us learners. You don’t forget seeing pictures like those. Later in my life, as a university student, I was briefly a member of an evangelical church on campus. We raised money for a ‘Pregnancy Crisis Center’, whose stated mission was to help young women who had unwanted pregnancies and difficult life…