Staff Reporter Windhoek-Organisers of the Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMAs) spend 37 percent of the N$10.2 million budget on local logistics, which includes venue hire, hospitality, travel and accommodation, security and other local aspects, with 35 percent of this figure spent on local suppliers alone, 90 percent of them small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This is followed by the technical budget of the event, which includes staging, equipment, lights, audio-visual equipment and the entire look and feel of the event from concept to execution, at 28 percent. Technical consultancy fees to Rockstar4000 take up 21 percent of the total budget. NAMAs executive member, Tim Ekandjo, revealed these figures recently, adding that he is pleased with the overwhelming response exceeding 800 entries for the 2018 event. “These are our technical consultants on the project that together with the organisers render their expertise on the design and concept of the entire event. We recruit the technical consultants via an open and transparent tender process after every three years. This tender was run twice in our seven years of existence. The first time only three companies tendered, two being South African and one Namibian and then three years ago only two South African companies tendered,” said Ekandjo. The last budget item is the prize monies, which takes up 14 percent of total budget, and these monies goes directly to the artists in terms of prize money. “On this score, we can confidently say that the NAMAs proudly lead Africa when it comes to paying artists competitive prize monies. From the N$10.2 million NAMAs budget, N$7.4 million is sponsored by MTC. Other sponsors such as Huawei, Tafel Lager, Standard Bank, National Arts Council of Namibia, Air Namibia, J&P Group of Companies, NDTC, Powerplay, Namibia Film Commission, Nascam and NWR [Namibia Wildlife Resorts] contribute N$2.8 million while NBC contributes over N$7 million in broadcasting expenses not only to advertise but also televise the event live. We are extremely proud of this project, and MTC and NBC and all other sponsors will continue to ensure that we deliver world class and memorable events in the best interest of our artist,” says Ekandjo. In statement released yesterday, Ekandjo described the NAMAs as being a Namibian success story and after seven years of the event, he confidently feels that it is one of the best-delivered national award ceremonies in Africa. Ekandjo says the secret to the event’s success is its excellent governance structure that allows independent bodies to work on the event. “Both the vetting committee and the panel of judges are independent individuals, who are experts in their own right, therefore, applying only their expertise. The reason why most awards ceremonies lose credibility is because sponsors get involved in the vetting and judging process, which compromises their credibility,” Ekandjo explained. Another factor Ekandjo says the NAMAs can be extremely proud of is the fact that the event is 100 percent funded by Namibians, and more than 80 percent of its total budget is spent on local Namibian suppliers. “This is something we can be extremely proud of. We have always maintained that this is a national event and that is why we invite multiple sponsors, and it is important that Namibians benefit from their own event in terms of direct spend and the other opportunities it creates for other industries like food and hospitality, fashion and local SMEs,” said Ekandjo. He added that the NAMAs has always been transparent with its budget and would, before every event, publicly announce the total sponsorship combined from all sponsors, which he feels says a lot about the values of openness and transparency.
New Era Reporter
2017-12-21 09:49:18 10 months ago
