Steven Klukowski
KEETMANSHOOP - The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board engaged various stakeholders here to facilitate trust relationships to attract and retain sustainable investment for private sector-led and inclusive economic growth.
Welcoming the entity on Monday, //Kharas regional governor Aletha Frederick applauded it for choosing the region as its starting point of countrywide visits.
“I believe this much-needed intervention will present enormous potential for the development of businesses and investment opportunities ready to be unlocked, particularly in areas of renewable energy, agriculture, marine resources and the tourism sector,” she said.
Frederick noted that the regional political leadership and business fraternity are aware that the NIPDP is an autonomous entity within the Presidency, tasked with public and private sector collaboration, to ensure Namibia has a conducive business climate to attract investors.
“This will require from them to understand the competitive advantage that each region offers in order to enable the board to tailor its regional investment promotion specific to each region, based on the facts presented,” she added.
“This platform will enable us to closely understand the mandate, scope and objectives of the NIPDB, and in addition on how this vehicle will assist the region and ensure that the inhabitants benefit from the resources and business opportunities in it.”
Frederick also informed stakeholders that the region has great economic potential, and requested the State-owned enterprise to assist them in properly packaging investment opportunities as a means to attract investors who will create much-needed jobs and be an enabler of reducing poverty and grow the economy accordingly. The governor expressed her trust that the platform will be helpful to propose interventions for challenges that the region encounters in terms of doing and growing business, and furthermore attracting investments.
CEO Nangula Uaandja said the reason for the NIPDB’s existence is to unlock investment opportunities which can bring about a better quality of life for all Namibians, in the process responding to President Hage Geingob’s persistent call for inclusivity for all citizens when it involves the development of the country.
“As part of our statutory mandate, the board also aims to improve Namibia’s competitiveness score, develop the required skills for sustainable investments that lead to job-creation, and create an enabling ecosystem for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME’s) to thrive and scale,” she stated.
In terms of the upcoming green hydrogen project, Uaandja said President Geingob gave the NIPDB the mandate to ensure it will be a viable project and investment, benefiting all Namibians in the end.
“We need to provide the president with a list on all MSMEs and how they will benefit from it, making sure Namibia has the necessary skilled people to be employed at the project, or alternatively source such skills from outside on condition that it will later be transferred to Namibians, and lastly ensure the value chain will as much a possible be localised,” she continued.
Uaandja thus requested regional stakeholders to support efforts to promote Namibia to local and international investors, assist the entity in engaging stakeholders on how to support its efforts, and to be actively involved in identifying investment opportunities in the region.
One of the attendees, Karasburg mayor Josef Witbooi, said this high-level intervention will now support the town’s residents to identify and report on investment opportunities more clearly in future. “It was indeed the first time that we come to know about the NIPDB,” he observed.
Sindongo Valentinus, newly-appointed CEO of the Aroab Village Council, expressed hope that through this visit, local authorities will be in a better position to attract investors with available land, and also how to learn from best-practices from other countries.
“This board should also revisit the contractual agreements with international investors in order to ensure a smooth transition of resources at a later stage to us Namibians,” he suggested.