Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK – Annual expos and trade fairs hosted by various local authorities across the country are vital for the socio-economic development of those communities, and as such require all stakeholders support to make them a success. These were the sentiments that were recently shared by Standard Bank’s Rundu Branch’s Manager, Muahala Ya-Kalimbo, when she and her team donated a whooping N$40 000 to the 2018 Nkurenkuru Expo. The cheque was handed over to the Mayor of Nkurenkuru Erastus Kandjimi.
“The annual Nkurenkuru Expo has become a great platform for all of us to appreciate and enhance our country’s cultural and traditional diversity. We at Standard Bank are pleased to be associated with this expo aimed at strengthening and promoting the local and regional economy,” Ya-Kalimbo said of their unwavering support for the expo.
She explained that as a dedicated corporate sponsor, Standard Bank values the importance of this event because it helps in moving the town forward and promotes development by partnering this way with local authorities.
Ya-Kalimbo thanked the Nkurenkuru Expo organisers for their continuous commitment to the people of the town and recommitted Standard Bank’s availability to aiding them move their businesses forward, urging them to talk to the Bank’s business consultants on how best they can help grow their business further.
Standard Bank strives to ensure that they are relevant in the communities in which they operate and that they contribute regionally towards the socio-economic upliftment of those communities. As such, Ya-Kalimbo also highlighted the Bank’s flagship Buy-a-Brick initiative and urged all Namibians to support it.
“Our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives are reflective of national development objectives and priorities by having maximum impact where it is needed most. On that note I would like to make mention of Standard Bank’s Buy a Brick community-based fundraising initiative. I am immensely proud to be associated with the Buy a Brick initiative which in its first year of inception saw us raising an amount of N$1.4 million, thanks to your invaluable contributions,” she said.
Last year the Bank handed over a total of N$2 million to the Federation. “Since this is an ongoing initiative we encourage every Namibian and the corporate sector to contribute towards the Buy a Brick initiative so that together we can help alleviate the housing shortage in our country,” she reiterated.
The Nkurenkuru Expo is scheduled to take place from the 26 June to 2 July 2018.