Eveline de Klerk
WALVIS BAY – Fishcor, the fishing entity established in 1991 to exploit all marine resources on behalf of the government, has reported impressive profits since 2014.
Revealing the company’s financial records for the past 10 years during a media day held at Walvis Bay, Fishcor chief executive officer, Mike Nghipunya, said they managed to transform Fishcor from a loss-making entity to one of the most prominent companies in the fishing industry.
The company’s finances significantly improved, with revenue increasing from N$37 million in 2014 to N$250 million in 2015. However, a dip in revenue was recorded in 2016 before spiking to N$280 million in 2017.
“That is surely substantial and consistent growth compared to where the company was in the past,” Nghipunya said on Saturday.
Contrary to beliefs that Fishcor has been spoon-fed and got preferential treatment from government, which reflected in the profits made, Nghipunya said the company has been receiving the same treatment in the past and yet could not perform.
“We get a quota just like any other fishing company. We can also argue that we get privileges unlike any other company. However, it should be taken into account that those privileges still need good managers to translate into good performance,” Nghipunya said.
He explained that Fishcor had the same privileges before the current management came on board, but the performance back then cannot be compared to what they have achieved in the past four years.
“Perhaps our predecessors did not understand the exact privilege they had and did not know how to use it to the company’s advantage. Hence, when we took over, we knew exactly what was expected from us and did just that,” he said.
According to Nghipunya, the current leadership and board of directors came up with a strategic blueprint that is a roadmap that would ensure that they execute Fischor’s mandate in line with Vision 2030.
“We believe that a solid strategy with specific objectives is the foundation for improving financial performance, strengthening competitiveness and gaining sustainable advantages over competitors,” he stated.