Martin Endjala
The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) is hosting a Responsible Investment Symposium (RIS) in Windhoek.
The symposium, currently underway, aims to tackle broadening horizons and engaging in honest debate about the relevance and practical impacts of the RIS and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) landscape and the Fund’s shared mandates.
The GIPF’s Chief Executive Officer and Principal Officer, Martin Inkumbi explained that RIS is integral to the GIPF’s business model.
“Through the lens of sustainability, the Fund aims to capture value, mitigate relevant risks, and remain forward-looking to be part of the Responsible Investment community, to the extent that it is attainable”.
Inkumbi said the Fund requires all partners to adopt similar principles and frameworks to integrate ESG aspects in all their investment processes and decision-making.
This approach, he said, will enable the GIPF to meet its member-centric business objectives and ensure returns on investments.
This, Inkumbi said, shall positively impact the Namibian economy and ensure continued growth and guaranteed benefits for all its members.
The chairperson of the GIPF board of trustees, Penda Ithindi, added that the Fund, being the 1,000th signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (UNPRI) in March 2012, has been at the forefront in pioneering responsible investment in all its asset classes, locally, in South Africa, Africa, and internationally.
According to Ithindi, the GIPF has over the past months, embarked on the journey to set up systems to ensure that the UNPRI and ESG analysis and interpretation become an important part of the Fund’s investment processes.
The symposium attracted over 20 speakers from Namibia as well as from countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States of America and Senegal. Close to 200 participants attended the event.
As it progresses, the symposium will focus on topics such as the nation’s economy and the brand value of responsible investment amongst others.
