WINDHOEK – According to Paul Egelser, a Research Economist at the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), N$562.6 million has been approved by the bank to finance a diversified portfolio of enterprises and projects in the transport and communications sector, in support of enterprise development.
This, he said, is necessary to create an enabling environment for businesses and individuals to thrive in the Namibian economy. Egelser added that the importance of this sector cannot be over-emphasized as it impacts positively on jobs and has a multiplier effect with enhanced benefits for different sectors in any economy. Talking about the reason for the range of projects, Egelser said that an enabling environment for enterprise is of particular importance. “Although it is possible to foster enterprises with finance, it is equally important to ensure that enterprises have the capability in terms of infrastructure, logistics and communication,” he said, adding that the bank is targeting the three key development sectors of transport, infrastructure and communication.
“These areas should form part of the integral components of enterprise support,” Egelser said. “You need to look at the enterprise in a context of its environment. If you have a manufacturing enterprise in a region or town, that enterprise will need maintained roads for transport, transport capability, communication, ICT and good logistics. This web of requirements is fertile ground for enterprise development and project finance, all of which contribute to the economy,” he said to illustrate his point.
Corridors and communication between towns or regions, he said, also hold economies of scale for development as they serve more than one centre. “A road, for instance, benefits more than one centre. The intra-regional trade creates opportunities for different economic clusters, and this has a multiplier effect on the development dollar.” Sectoral allocations in support of enterprise include transport and logistical services, telecommunications, maintenance of infrastructure and port infrastructure. According to the bank’s statistics, the largest regional allocations have gone to national projects at 56.1 percent, Erongo at 21.5 percent, Kavango 10.4 percent and Khomas at 6.4 percent. Approvals to develop the enterprise environment have had a direct impact on 7 381 jobs, broken down into 477 new jobs, 1 684 temporary jobs and 5 220 jobs retained.
By Staff Reporter