The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board’s CEO Nangula Uaandja is worried that Namibians are not practising enough in the investment space in their own country.
She said the NIPDB is having a huge pipeline of investment projects, with mostly foreign investment.
“We are not getting Namibian-driven projects in that pipeline. It is of my interest to know the reason behind that. There are a lot of institutional investors who are knocking on our doors. We do have projects driven by foreign nationals; we just lack projects driven by Namibians,” Uaandja said.
She was speaking this week at an investment policy and promotion seminar arranged by the NIPDB, in collaboration with the World Bank Group. The seminar aimed to bring together senior policymakers, development bank practitioners and private sector stakeholders to explore dynamic global investment trends in investment policy, its impact on investment competitiveness, and its implications for Namibia.
With competition for investment intensifying, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, it remains imperative for Namibia to engage in effective investment promotion to attract businesses and investors.
The CEO stated just last year that it was an easy job to market Namibia to investors due to the green hydrogen ambitions and oil discoveries. At that time, she added that Namibia had secured about N$94 billion worth of investment opportunities with the potential to create 122 000 jobs in its pipeline, which by now should have been overflowing.
Uaandja observed that Namibia needs private investment in order to solve the challenges the country is facing. Namibia cannot solve them if not pulling in the same direction, and there is thus a need for all stakeholders to hold hands, she added.
“Let’s pull in the same direction and work together because only then we can solve the challenges that are facing us, which are poverty, inequality and unemployment,” she stated.
Previous foreign direct investments (FDIs) failed to tackle the issues of unemployment. Hence, the board is trying new approaches to make sure investments attack the most pressing issues in Namibia.
During his virtual intervention, the World Bank Group’s Peter Kusek urged all countries to align their domestic policies with commitments with global demand.
“Remove all existing barriers, and ensure that envisaged and regional agreements show great promise to unlocking the potential for increased FDI. Africa is doing well in terms of attracting FDI as it attracts about 3% of it, compared to other developing partners,” said Kusek.
The Bank of Namibia (BoN) said in its quarterly bulletin during the third quarter of 2022 that foreign direct investment into Namibia recorded a higher inflow, mainly due to equity injections for exploration activities as well as the uptake of intercompany loans.
FDI into Namibia rose to N$6.1 billion during the third quarter of 2022 from N$1.7 billion and N$3.8 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021 and the previous quarter, respectively.
At the same occasion, trade ministry executive directorSikongo Haihambo noted that government is committed to making sure that the country has a conducive investment environment. -mndjavera@nepc.com.na