The Old Mutual Investment Group has decided to join the fight against the novel coronavirus by generously making a monetary pledge of N$5 million.
The CEO of Old Mutual Group, Kosmas Egumbo, said as a caring and responsible business and under an appeal to the private sector by President Geingob, the financial service institution has pledged to donate N$5 million towards the nation-wide efforts to help address some of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said specific areas of support include the provision of food to the poor and the vulnerable communities, technical equipment and allowances for payment of recruited medical professionals.
“We pledge N$1 million towards the supply and delivery of food to the poor, old age homes, orphanages, as well as vulnerable communities,” stated Egumbo.
Old Mutual Namibia recognises that a large portion of the poor and the vulnerable receive their limited income from daily/hourly labour, which they will not be able to earn during the lockdown, he said.
“To mitigate this, we will provide non-perishable foods to the poor and vulnerable members of our society,” he said.
Part of the N$5 million goes to expanding Covid-19 testing capacity, which amounts to N$2. 7 million. “N$1. 7 million will be used to acquire testing equipment, broaden the scale of testing and the procurement of test kits. Another N$ 1 million is geared towards strengthening tracing capacity, including equipment, tools and services required for effective tracing,” stated Egumbo.
The last tranche, consisting of N$1. 3 million, would be funnelled towards the National Disaster Fund. “This is geared towards the payment of allowances to temporarily recruited medical professionals, such as recently-graduated medical students and nurses, who might be recalled by the government to assist.”
Egumbo mentioned that experience gained and lessons learned from countries that have been fighting the impact of Covid-19 reveal that large scale testing, followed by effective tracing, isolation, and treatment significantly contribute to the early flattening of the exponential infection curve that will alleviate the pressure on our limited health facilities. Egumbo said they join and encourage other actors in society to do more in collectively preventing Covid-19.
– psiririka@nepc.com.na