WINDHOEK – The Development Fund of the Social Security Commission pledged an amount of N$2.4 million over a period of two years towards the Namibian Informal Sector Organisation, to assist with provisition support to benefit socio-economically disadvantaged people.
The Development Fund of the SSC has thus far supported the training of 800 NISO members in Karas, Khomas, Oshana and Oshikoto regions on financial and business management, as well as applicable governing laws in order to improve business success, promote formality and to ensure compliance.
“The Social Security Commission (SSC) is mandated to administer the Development Fund (DF), which provides financial support to, amongst other schemes, the employment schemes. The Social Security Act no 34 of 1994 establishes the DF.
Anthea Olivier, corporate communications officer of the SSC, says that NISO applied for support to work with the informal sector in 2011 and their objectives were to train their members on legislative framework as it applied to informal sector organisations. “The funding will further be used to assist at least 20 percent of the trained members with the application of the acquired skills at their ventures by developing and implementing financial and business management tools and systems, in consultation with SSC-DF; to assist 15 informal sector operators with the development of bankable business plans and access to information on potential financiers; to facilitate the registration of eight NISO members in Karas, Khomas, Oshana and Oshikoto regions with the Social Security Commission as well as with other statutory bodies such as the Receiver of Revenue and the Ministry of Trade and Industry; to lobby and advocate on behalf of the members to ensure the relaxation and/or simplification of relevant pieces of legislation in order to accommodate the informal sector and raise awareness among eight hundred (800) NISO members in all fourteen of Namibia’s regions about the importance of compliance with applicable laws governing their business operations,” she added.
The Social Security Commission did not only provide financial support to NISO but also made staff available to support them in matters related to the SSC’s mandate during training workshops. “For the SSC a key driver for supporting this is to provide coverage – even to informal sector organisations”, said Olivier.