Maihapa Ndjavera

Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) and the Namibian Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) are working together to promote economic growth in the country. In efforts to enhance policy advocacy, strengthen stakeholder relations, innovatively enhance economic productivity and competitiveness, NCCI established advocacy committees that will be engaging decision-makers at different levels of government.

Last week, during a courtesy call at State House, NCCI president Bisey /Uirab said NCCI continues to play a leading role in working closely with other sectoral bodies to drive a unified and common approach to jointly address issues that affect Namibian businesses. He outlined the enterprise and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development subcommittee that will develop policy options on issues affecting SME businesses as well as general enterprise development in the country. On this matter, /Uirab said the committee will liaise with the NIPDB.

“The productivity and competitiveness sub-committee will explore interventions to increase the productivity and competitiveness of specific identified sectors, particularly with export potential,” stated /Uirab. Also, the trade and export promotion sub-committee will liaise with the investment promotion board on measures to be undertaken to address the competitiveness of Namibian products in foreign markets.

/Uirab added the sectoral coordinating sub-committee will create a forum for representatives of business in Namibia to formulate appropriate strategies and actions for resolving challenges and constraints to business growth. “The final is the public-private dialogue sub-committee that is tasked with the responsibility of reviewing new policies and legislation or amendments for impact on the ease of doing business in the country as well as other socio-economic goals,” said /Uirab.

Also, at last week’s State House meeting, CEO of NIPDB Nangula Uaandja said NCCI committees are aligned with that of the NIPDB. Uaandja noted the board is trying to ensure there is no duplication in efforts but rather to complement the efforts between the board and the private sector. She added the board last week started discussions with the Harvard Growth Lab at the Harvard Centre, which is an institution that works to understand the dynamics of economic growth and translate this into effective policymaking in developing countries. 

“The board has to elect a sector with the help of the private sector that can be used to determine productivity. There are guidelines that it should be a simpler sector, which is not highly controversial. So, the idea is not to start with the most challenging sector and fail at the beginning,” Uaandja explained.

– mndjavera@nepc.com.na