Minister of Finance, Ericah Shafudah, has pledged to engage the Agribank board over delays in approving loans for the purchase of commercial farms.

Her assurance followed an urgent oral question in the National Assembly on Wednesday from Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani, who criticised the state-owned bank’s lengthy turnaround times.

Venaani said Agribank, established to support access to land for previously disadvantaged Namibians, often takes up to six months to process loan applications.

He noted that the delays have created a situation where sellers of commercial farms increasingly prefer transactions through commercial banks, excluding Agribank-backed buyers.

“The Ministry of Finance is responsible for overlooking the affairs of Agribank, an agricultural bank that has the sole responsibility of making sure more and more previously disadvantaged Namibians can have access to land.

“As we are speaking, all farm advertisements in this country, auctions, are denying any applicant that comes from Agribank, because Agribank is marked by bureaucracy. When you want to buy a farm through them, it takes more than six months to get a deal through,” Venaani said.

“Now how do you expect black farmers to access this precious commodity which is land they fought for, if Agribank has a turnaround bureaucracy strategy of six months?”
The opposition leader argued that Agribank’s inefficiency undermines land reform efforts, leaving aspiring black farmers at a disadvantage compared to those using commercial banks.

In her response, Shafudah said she has engaged with the Agribank board since assuming office but admitted the specific issue of sellers rejecting Agribank-backed buyers had not been raised.

“This one has not come to my attention before, but it’s something I’m going to take up, because you are really engaging for us to improve on the areas of improvement that have been highlighted,” she said.

Shafudah assured Parliament that she would act urgently to ensure the bank fulfils its mandate of enabling land ownership among previously disadvantaged Namibians. -Nampa