Albertina Nakale
WINDHOEK – The 22-member High Level Panel on the Namibian Economy (HLPE), chaired by veteran economist Johannes Gawaxab, has been tasked to help create N$15 billion (US$1 billion) worth of investment in the next two years.
Eos Capital Managing Director Gawaxab is deputised on the panel by Nangula Uaandja, Country Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Gawaxab revealed the panel’s ambitious targets at State House yesterday, after he presented President Hage Geingob with an inception report highlighting planned activities that the panel has worked on since its voluntary appointment in April.
Although the panel had a marathon closed door meeting with Geingob yesterday, Gawaxab explained that their mandate is centred around bringing in N$15 billion worth of investments into the Namibian economy.
This is to help grow the economy and create jobs.
The report also contains the economic summit the country must hold this year to stimulate appetite for investment.
“We need to create U$1 billion over the next two years from the private sector. We are also thinking that apart from the economic summit, we are planning to host investment conferences. One in the USA, one in Europe and the other in Asia.”
“The economic summit will be entirely funded by the private sector and we are thinking of the summit in July this year. The investment conference is still work in progress at this stage,” he revealed.
Gawaxab said their mandate is crystal clear, which is to help revive the economy, create jobs, help make Namibia a preferred investment in tourism destination and help get access for Namibian produce in the country.
He thus asked the nation to give the panel a chance to revive the economy, saying they are focused on achieving their mandate.
“We want to come up with a strategy that can re-orient the Namibian economy in a way to address the triple challenge of unemployment, inequality, and poverty,” said the former Old Mutial MD for African Operations.
“The initial thinking is that it’s going to be an international summit. It will have four key progress areas,” he revealed.
These four key areas include private sector investment, job creation, bottlenecks – whether bureaucratic, regulatory or structural – that are slowing down the economy from growing and the last one is the needed interventions to grow the economy.
!Gawaxab said President Geingob can expect the recommendations from the panel during the first two weeks of June this year, while the second set of recommendations will come through during August immediately after the economic summit.
The final set of recommendations will be announced around February 2020.
He said the inception report is not a public document at this stage.
The report however covers the activities of the panel since its inception on how they organised themselves to approach the mandate given by the Head of State.
It also talks to when the President can expect some recommendations as well as the priority areas from the panel.
Uaandja said the panel has done a lot of consultation with the public and private sector, as well as local investors, individuals, and entrepreneurs on how they can help revive the economy.
She indicated the panel has great support from the presidency, cabinet ministers, public and private sector, captains of industries, banking, insurance, and mining industries among other sectors.
In April, Geingob appointed Florette Nakusera, Estelle Tjipueja, Ester Simon, Kauna Ndilula, Martin Shipanga, Jason Kasuto, Sven Thieme, Junias Mungunda, James Mnyupe, Kenneth Matengu, Michael Iyambo, Evangelina Nailenge, Gitta Paetzhold, Justin Braby, Immanuel Kadhila, Klaus Schade, Banda Shilimela, Carlos Lopez, Joseph Okpaku and Vuyo Jack to the panel.
Geingob said the panel was appointed as part of his promise last year to set up a high-level presidential economic advisory council on the economy.
!Gawaxab said the panel has five working groups to tackle the assignments given before them by the President.
Pic; economy panel
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