Business

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian Nico Smit said the loopholes created by the tax concessions for Export Processing Zone (EPZ) companies and certain manufacturing firms have long been a direct and substantial source of revenue loss for the government.

Telecommunications giant MTC has set its sights on providing low-cost houses to the homeless and targets to hand over close to 270 houses in the next two years, said Tim Ekandjo, chief human capital and corporate affairs officer at MTC.

Minister of Information and Communication Technology Stanley Simataa this week motivated the Communications Amendment Bill in the National Assembly.

MTC executive Tim Ekandjo yesterday announced the completion of phase one of the 081Every1 network project, which was worth N$232 million. He said the 081Every1 network project is well on track.

Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein says Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are an excellent opportunity for the development of the Namibian economy.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is expected to increase its Africa financing to €4 billion (N$65.2 billion at an exchange rate of 16.3) in 2020. Looking ahead, the EIB expects to significantly increase engagement in both sub-Saharan and North Africa and to provide the €4 billion to support public and private investment across the continent in 2020. 

De Beers Marine (Debmarine) Namibia’s revenue, production and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined with significant percentages for the 2019 financial year.

The rental market continues to bottom-out although at a moderate pace. In effect, the FNB Rental Index as at December 2019 shows a contraction of 0.8% - reflecting a steep improvement from a contraction of 8.6% recorded over the same period in 2018. 

The FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust recently donated N$20 000 toward the NUST Career Starter Week (CSW) Workshop. The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and B360 Education Partnerships first piloted the CSW Workshop in 2017. 

The Government Institutions Pension Fund’s unqualified audit opinion for the period ended March 2019 shows that the fund’s asset base increased by 6.3% from N$111.1 billion to N$118.1 billion.