Staff Writer
Government, through the Ministry of Finance is considering a proposal from the Ministry of Public Enterprises to come to the aid of three parastatals which have had their operations severely affected by the global coronavirus outbreak.
The three, Air Namibia, Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) and Namibia Airports Company (NAC), are said to be in need of funding to meet their monthly wage bills, amounts expected to run into millions.
This comes as Air Namibia is currently not generating any income after grounding its fleet, while NAC which generates revenues by managing the country’s airports has been forced to close some of its airports, with NWR taking a knock alongside of the rest of the tourism industry from nearly non-existent occupancy levels and advance bookings at its resorts.
“We conducted scenario planning for all our Commercial Public Enterprises literally on day one of Covid-19 in Namibia. I have submitted the outcome and associated requests to the Ministry of Finance for them to see how and where they can intervene,” Public Enterprises Minister, Leon Jooste said.
He said although consultations are currently on-going with regards to these financial requests, providing funds for these SOEs may not be sustainable.
“For now, we are carrying the cost of Air Namibia but it is obviously not sustainable and discussions between us and the Ministry of Finance are ongoing,” Jooste said.
“The sad reality is that our SOEs are not shielded from the economic effects of the pandemic and some of them are severely affected. This obviously depends on the level of direct economic exposure but Namibia Wildlife Resorts, Namibia Airports Company and Air Namibia are the primary victims.”
NAC Board Chairman, Leake Hangala said the company was in consultations regarding its funding needs, especially salaries, as no income was being generated after it resolved to close most of its airports, namely the Walvis Bay International, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop airports in compliance with the government state of emergency. Hosea Kutako International Airport remains open as a diversion airport for overflight operations and Eros Airport to cater for cargo flights and any emergency operations.
“The last thing we want to do is get rid of employees and we are engaging as a board with the company management and the shareholder. The lack of activity at the country’s airports is impacting the business and the country’s economy as well,” he said.
In South Africa, South African Airways is proposing to retrench over 4,700 workers by the end of the month due to the airline’s cash crunch, after the neighboring country’s government rejected a bailout request of R10 billion.
Jooste, however, said the ministry will move ahead with the recruitment processes to appoint substantive Chief Executive Officers for public enterprises, such as Air Namibia among others.
“We are moving ahead with all Governance related matters,” he said.
According to a local daily, more than 16 state-owned enterprises are without CEOs, with no appointments in sight for the majority of them after current execs were fired, placed on suspension, or had contracts that expired.
Some of the public enterprises with acting CEOs include Namport, Telecom, Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holding (NPTH), Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP), Namibia Civil Aviation Authority, the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa), the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust), the Roads Contractor Company (RCC), the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), Air Namibia, the Namibia Industrial Development Agency (Nida) and Zambezi Waterfront.
