Business

Merriam-Webster defines a crisis as “an unstable or difficult time or state of affairs”. It is unplanned or uncontrolled change. During times of crisis, leadership is critical. While the existing economic crisis caused by Covid-19 is unprecedented, small businesses have historically proved themselves to be flexible and resilient.

Economic experts opined that the national budget, including the growing budget deficit, were in line with expectations, but agreed that the current financial situation could not only be attributed to the Covid-19 health crisis. This is because the domestic economy had already contracted during three out of the past four years while policy frameworks to attract domestic and foreign direct investment has not been conducive.

In an effort to maintain price stability in domestic fuel market, the price of fuel stay untouched.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has, through its monthly fuel price review, resolved to keep fuel pump prices unchanged countrywide for the month of June 2020.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the direction of government’s fiscal policy from fiscal consolidation to mitigation of the spread and impacts of the virus in the country. Additional expenditure has been considered to provide for the fight against Covid-19, increasing the already high government spending, while revenue is expected to fall to the lowest level. 

The Namibian economy is projected to contract by 6.6% in real terms during the 2020/21 financial year. Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi on Wednesday cautioned that this contraction may linger on well into 2021 at a moderate rate of 1.1%, with the new normal average growth rates of between 2.0 and 3.6% in 2022 and beyond.  

A shift towards cleaner fossil fuels and natural gas has been identified as critical for the energy agenda in Africa to develop in a sustainable manner.

Conrad Dempsey, currently CEO of RMB Namibia, will take over the reins of one of the largest financial services institutions in the country.
 He has been appointed group CEO designate effective 1 July 2020, and will officially become CEO of the FirstRand Group effective 1 October 2020. 

Namibia’s first telecommunications provider MTC on Wednesday launched its latest market offering termed “Multiple Aweh” product solution. This solution will enable customers to subscribe to more than one and up to three Aweh subscriptions at a time. 

Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states should be developing roadmaps and action plans that prioritise investments and channel scarce resources to identified economic sectors to resuscitate their economies, strengthen resilience and improve competitiveness.

The Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) and the Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) signed the revised recognition and procedural agreement last week.