The overall value of all Namibia’s public enterprises, including their assets, is approximately N$132 billion. This is a massive figure, considering the country’s gross domestic product is roughly N$160 billion. Out of this figure, 22 commercial public enterprises account for more than half of the total at about N$80 billion.
During an exclusive interview with New Era, acting executive director (ED) in the public enterprises ministry Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati stated that the efficiency of the country’s public enterprises really does enhance Namibia’s overall competitiveness.
“To the degree that public enterprises become more efficient, they really do enhance the competitiveness of the country. That’s what we want to do because we are competing in an inter-connected, highly- competitive world. If you don’t do it, then someone else is going to find that niche in your country and make money out of you, and perpetually make you a consumer. That is why we want to ensure that our public enterprises really play that role,” said Nghipondoka-Robiati. She added that increased competitiveness ensures new and applicable skill sets to the economy to become more business-savvy.
The acting ED noted that the public enterprises ministry is one of the strongest pillars of the Namibian economy due to the value of its assets it can leverage on, and its ability to contribute to economic growth due to the assets under management.
“As far as the competitiveness of the country to do business is concerned, the more our public enterprises are governed efficiently and operate efficiently is how we will become more competitive as a country, and then business is naturally going to thrive,” said Nghipondoka-Robiati.
She observed that the value of Namibia’s public enterprises has reduced slightly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly because of lockdowns and its associated restrictions, coupled with reduced economic activity.
The official furthermore explained that Namibia actually has over 200 public enterprises. Some of these were created by legislation, but many are registered only as a proprietary limited (PTY Limited).
Out of the 200 entities, only 74 are major public enterprises, 40 of which are non-commercial, 22 are commercial and 12 are financial extra-budgetary.
“Most of the value of our public enterprises lies in our 22 commercial entities, for obvious reasons. TransNamib with its asset base, NamPower with its asset base, Namport, Telecom, NPTH, and so on. This is significant, as the major economic activities of the State are carried out through these commercial public enterprises,” the acting executive director continued.
However, during Covid-19, the value of some public enterprises reduced.
“If you look at the Namibia Airports Company, the liquidation of Air Namibia, the fact that Namibia Wildlife Resorts really struggled during lockdowns, you can see there was a little bit of a decline,” said Nghipondoka-Robiati. She added that although an exact figure on the value lost by public enterprises was not readily available, the new financial monitoring system implemented will soon be able to provide an exact amount in this regard.