Observer Money – Page 215

12 May

New appointments at CPBM

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCentral Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN)

Staff Writer The Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) on Monday announced the appointment of 14 new staff members to fill vacant positions at the body tasked with leading the procurement process on behalf of government. Among those appointed are Saara Shapua who is now the CPBN’s Manager of Internal Procurement and Aune Ndeutepo who was appointed Manager of Finance and Administration. This comes after the organization was engulfed in a tribalism storm last year after it was reported that allegedly non-Oshiwambo-speaking employees at the CPBN were being removed by a group within the organization for supposedly being “unamenable to…

07 May

Ministry cuts funding to private schools

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyMinistry of Education, private schools, Sanet Steenkamp

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Education has discontinued funding private schools after discovering it was not uniformly done. Education ministry executive director Sanet Steenkamp said the ministry put a stop to funding after discovering that certain conditions for funding, such as providing scholarships for 10 percent of its enrollment to vulnerable children, was not being met. Some private schools were also heavily reliant on the subsidy and could not prove that they were self-reliant. N$87 million per annum was dispersed to private schools in the past. Steenkamp said that while the economic downturn of the last three years has also…

07 May

Nampol welcomes alcohol ban

info_e12wt4csObserver Moneyalcohol, Deputy-Commissioner, Kauna Shikwambi, NAMPOL, NAMPOL Spokesperson

Staff Writer The Namibian Police Force (NAMPOL) has welcomed the newly amended government regulations which have imposed a total ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages during the on-going lockdown, reversing earlier regulations which had allowed alcohol with a content below 3 percent to be sold. Under the new gazetted regulations, liquor is now defined as any spirits, wine, beer, cider or other beverage containing alcohol intended for human consumption, excluding alcohol intended to be used for medicinal purposes. “The amended regulations make it easier for us to enforce the lockdown and we are glad the leaders heeded to our…

06 May

Conservation sustainability gets N$16 million boost

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCovid-19

Andrew Kathindi A total of N$16 million has been raised for the Conservation Relief, Recovery and Resilient Facility which aims to address the long-term impacts associated with COVID-19 on the sustainability of the Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Program in Namibia. Of this amount, the Namibia Association for CBNRM Support Organisations (NACSO), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will receive N$7.5 million. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) pledged an amount of N$1.5 million, while Nedbank Namibia has pledged an amount of N$1 million to the project. This amount is about a quarter of the conservancy income from tourism operations…

04 May

Informal sector sidelined

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCity of Windhoek, lockdown, Namibia Informal Sector Organisation

Andrew Kathindi Informal sector traders have accused government and the City of Windhoek of sidelining them when it came to polices regarding their operations during and post-lockdown. According to Namibia Informal Sector Organisation’s Secretary General, Veripi Kandenge, the 7,000-member strong organization was never consulted by government and the city council regarding its members’ concerns and operating conditions. “We have not been consulted about the way forward regarding the opening of markets despite certain informal markets set to reopen by Monday,” he said, “We call on policy-makers to include the informal sector representatives when developing policies concerning them. Our sector provides…

04 May

Founding father donates to COVID-19

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCovid-19, Founding President Sam Nujoma

Staff Writer Founding President Sam Nujoma handed over a donation of basic necessities and food parcels valued at a total of N$40,500 to the Office of the Prime Minister to be used in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. “Indeed, following the declared state of emergency by the Head of State and the subsequent lockdown of the whole country on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and now the gradual ease on the lockdown, we are aware that our government has established a multi-sectoral national coordination mechanism. The government has asked all stakeholders such as private health sector, the business community…

29 Apr

Air Namibia to reassess COVID-19 impact

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyAir Namibia, Covid-19

Andrew Kathindi Air Namibia Acting MD Elia Erastus said the airline will review the full impact of COVID-19 on its operations after 36 months even though they’ve managed to fully retain staff and pay salaries during the lockdown. Erastus revealed that Air Namibia has had zero revenue generation in the last month. He was hopeful the relaxation of lockdown regulations would allow the airline to focus on internal flights and generate some revenue. Erastus said the national airline will focus on regional flights to curb competition. He points out that the negative ripple effect of COVID-19 on airline operations is…

29 Apr

China debt relief not on the table-Shiimi

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyChina, Covid-19, Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi

Staff Writer Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi says government has not considered appealing for debt relief from China, in light of the increased financial burden that the emergence of COVID-19 has had on government coffers. This comes as government has continued to dig deep to fund various grants to assist those that have been hardest-hit by the effect of COVID 19 such as businesses and workers in tourism, construction and other service sectors. “It is not something that we have looked at and we don’t have a government position on that,” the finance minister said. Of the N$93 billion that government…

28 Apr

Namibia faces malnutrition headache

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCovid-19, malnutrition, Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia (NAFSAN)

Andrew Kathindi Nutrition experts have warned that cases of malnutrition in the country could rise due to increased job losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are food secure as a nation but household’s access to food is becoming a challenge as financial resources are not available due to the ongoing loss of income and employment,” said Senior UNAM Lecturer, Nutritionist and founding Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia (NAFSAN) Board Member, Charlotte Keyter. She said the ongoing retrenchment and loss of income for those in the informal sector because of the COVID19 pandemic was impacting on…

28 Apr

SSC rolls out salary protection scheme

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCovid-19, National Employment and Salary Protection Scheme, Social Security Commission (SSC)

…recipients must agree to not retrench for three months Andrew Kathindi The Social Security Commission (SSC) has officially unveiled the National Employment and Salary Protection Scheme for COVID-19 to cater for nine hard-hit sectors, including domestic workers. This relief package which comes to the value of N$623 million is being delivered in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, which will provide N$400 million in cash from the taxpayer collections, with the balance coming from the SSC. SSC Executive officer Milka Mugunda said the sectors most hard hit by the pandemic will benefit, but the rollout will start with the tourism,…