Justicia Shipena
The minister of industries, mines and energy, Natangue Ithete, says his ministry will no longer tolerate non-performance at the Namibia Industrial Development Agency (Nida).
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday in response to questions from opposition leader McHenry Venaani, Ithete said both the government and the public have been disappointed by the agency’s failure to deliver on its industrialisation mandate.
Earlier this year, Nida, a commercial state-owned enterprise, released its first financial report in six years, covering the financial years 2018/2019 to 2023/2024. The report showed a loss of N$102 million. It also revealed that Nida was owed N$89 million in rent arrears by 1,057 tenants.
“Going forward, under my watch, we as a ministry will not allow non-performance to continue unabated without consequences. If you don’t perform, we will do the needful,” Ithete said.
In April, Nida said it was considering a joint venture to co-finance its business units. At the time, its consultant chief financial officer, Julius Nghikevali, said a joint venture could be one of three strategies to improve performance.
Ithete explained that Nida’s board of directors is legally and ethically responsible for ensuring all capital projects undergo feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses before implementation.
However, he admitted that “things have not gone the way both the government and the public expected from Nida, its board, and management.”
He said the government has stepped in with short-term measures, including changes in management and efforts to find joint venture partners to revive projects.
He said the office of the prime minister is developing a new governance framework for state-owned enterprises to strengthen accountability.
The ministry has also begun reviewing Nida’s projects to refocus the agency on its core mandate of establishing viable factories and value-adding industries that create jobs.
Ithete said Nida’s operational losses, reported at over N$100 million, were partly due to a lack of seed capital at its inception.
“We are working with the Ministry of Finance to approve Nida’s integrated business plan, pay off historical debts, and capitalise the agency sufficiently to move toward profitability,” he said.
Nida’s last profitable year was 2020, when it recorded a profit of N$33 million.
Between 2018 and 2024, the agency earned N$31 million from agribusiness sales, N$44 million from property rentals, and N$44 million from dividends and interest income.
Total costs increased from N$181 million to N$231 million in 2024, while income rose by 20% to N$165 million, excluding government grants, which grew slightly from N$137 million in 2020 to N$139 million.
Ithete reported that various Nida sites have implemented security measures to prevent vandalism and idle infrastructure.
“We have given a directive for the agency to ensure no further vandalism takes place. Officials will be monitoring the implementation of these instructions,” he said.
Responding to concerns about dormant projects, he said not all Nida initiatives are inactive. He noted that plans are underway to revitalise viable ones and remove those that are not commercially feasible.
“Once the business plan is approved and implemented, some projects will move forward, while others will be alienated from Nida’s portfolio,” he said.
On failed projects, such as the Nkurenkuru garment factory and the Manyeha crocodile leather centre, Ithete said, “While the origins of these ventures remain unclear, his ministry is determined to turn them around.”
“The buck stops with me. We are going to make sure these projects become commercially viable and are managed profitably. What we will not allow is for the government to keep funding non-productive projects,” he said.
He said progress on the turnaround strategy should be visible before the end of the financial year.
