SOEs receive N$1.3 billion budget

State-owned enterprises will receive N$1.3 billion with Air Namibia receiving the lion’s share of that budgetary allocation, minister of public enterprises Leon Jooste announced last week in parliament. 
Motivating his ministry’s budget of about N$1.4 billion, Jooste said from the N$1.4 billion allocated to the ministry, N$1.3 billion will be for the support to commercial public enterprises, while the remaining N$38 million will go towards the execution of the ministry’s activities.

Jooste told fellow lawmakers that Air Namibia will receive N$984 million while the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) will get N$86 million and the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) and Agricultural Business Development Agency (Agribusdev) will both be allocated N$60 million. 
Others are the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) that will be apportioned N$146 million, the state-owned civil engineering company, Roads Contractor Company (RCC) will get N$21 million, the Lüderitz Waterfront, N$1.7 million, the Zambezi Waterfront Tourism Park will receive N$1 million and Epangelo Mining will receive N$10.5 million from the national treasury.

“Our ministry is taking over a portfolio of 22 CPEs, with a total asset value of N$70,2 billion and liabilities of N$33,2 billion, giving a portfolio net asset value of N$37 billion and a debt/asset value of 47.3%,” Jooste said while motivating the ministry’s budget. 
He said the overall revenue has grown by 1.9% year-on-year (2018-2019) while the expenditure growth rate has grown to 12.6% over the same period, translating into a total profit of N$1.7 billion for the entire portfolio and a profit margin of 7.4%.
Considering the stark reality of the country’s current economic situation, Jooste said he is of the belief it is now more critical than ever to expedite the reform of all Namibian state owned public enterprises and for them to become economic enablers of the country without them being a burden on the national treasury that is under immense pressure.