info_e12wt4cs – Page 924

03 Mar

Energy ministry lifts licence moratorium

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyMinistry of Mines and Energy

Staff Writer The Ministry of Mines and Energy on Tuesday announced the lifting of its temporary suspension on the issuing of fuel retail site and wholesale licenses. The Ministry last July effected the suspension, citing an oversupply of service stations in the country. The move was aimed at reviewing existing procedures and requirements for securing a fuel retail site and wholesale license. “The Ministry has reviewed the licencing procedures and requirements for granting fuel retail and wholesale licences, as provided for in the Petroleum Products and Energy Regulations, of 2000. This includes new application forms and conditions for the granting…

03 Mar

NamWater seeks its N$1.5 billion

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyKatima Mulilo, NamWater Chief Executive Officer, Zambezi

Andrew Kathindi NamWater has revealed that it’s owed N$1.5 billion nationally, with local authorities being the largest debtors. NamWater Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Abraham Nehemia, told Windhoek Observer that some of the debts owed to them are backdated by nearly ten years.“I have written all of them letters. It's a demand letter waking up the other party to honour their obligations,” he said. The NamWater CEO further refuted claims that the lack of water in Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi region was a result of NamWater disconnecting the local authority. “There was a misrepresentation of facts in Katima. We have a…

03 Mar

Residents owe CoW N$1 billion

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCity of Windhoek, Covid-19, Job Amupanda

Andrew Kathindi The City of Windhoek’s (CoW) debts currently stand at around N$ 1 billion, Mayor, Job Amupanda, has revealed on Tuesday. The debt, according to the Mayor, was around N$800 to N$900 million in early 2020, and moved to slightly above N$1 billion when COVID-19 hit to slightly below a billion when restrictions eased. “The City has not been spared by the negative impact of COVID-19, and our debts has drastically increased by N$150 million since the state of emergency was first announced in March 2020. At that point and time, we could not disconnect services for our residents…

02 Mar

The New Normal: Cyber Security During COVID-19

info_e12wt4csUncategorisedCovid-19, Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF)

Martin Hamukwaya The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) has in recent years increased the shift and reliance in the use of information technology for our staff and members. When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Namibia and subsequently invoked the lockdown, it encouraged the use of many other effective ways the Fund can offer services to our members from the comfort of their homes. This effectively changed the way we operate at GIPF, which now translated into “The New Normal”. The “New Normal”, provides our members with assurance that they will be attended to without necessarily having to visit any of the…

02 Mar

Driving the value-add agenda on a budget

info_e12wt4csUncategorisedbudget, Driving

Eli Gentle After the deal closes, what next? Go create value! Depending on the context, you may suddenly find yourself behind the wheel of a large, urgently needed change program (e.g., digital transformation) or a small, targeted intervention that no one saw coming (e.g., salesforce incentives). In many small and emerging markets, the value creation agenda (be it wide or narrow in scope) must be delivered hands-on, while staying within a shoestring budget. Two things can help you deliver on budget while sparing a few precious hours in your packed days: 1. Invest in the capabilities of your portfolio company…

02 Mar

Shangula dismisses third wave concerns …as CDC cautions

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyCovid-19, Health and Social Services (MoHS), Kalumbi Shangula

Andrew Kathindi Health and Social Services (MoHS) minister, Kalumbi Shangula, has downplayed the probability of a third wave of COVID-19 hitting Namibia anytime soon. This comes after South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Sunday warned that the, “threat of a third wave is constantly present, as is the threat of yet more new variants”. Shangula stated that he was not aware of Ramaphosa’s warning, but queried, “How can they talk about a third wave when they are relaxing all the control measures?” South Africa on Sunday relaxed some of its regulations in the control of the spread of COVID-19. The…

02 Mar

600 Seaflower workers set to lose jobs again

info_e12wt4csObserver MoneyTunacor

Andrew Kathindi and Kandjemuni Kamuiiri Altogether 597 factory workers under a government fishing quota for employment deal entered with Tunacor , are again set to lose their jobs when the existing agreement expires this month , it has emerged. Tunacor, awarded 4 000 tonnes worth of quota valued at over N$6 million by government in exchange for absorbing the Seaflower Pelagic Processing (SPP) retrenched workers, has revealed that it only has 50 openings in the company, which the employees were free to apply when the existing deal reached last December expires this month. The deal, struck between Fishcor’s board, the…

27 Feb

Air Namibia demise, SOEs privitisation Grandmaster plan of Capitalism

info_e12wt4csUncategorisedAir Namibia demise, Grandmaster plan of Capitalism, SOEs privitisation

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro With the country still reeling from the shock of the fait acompli of the liquidation of the national airline, the dust thereof shall yet to settle for now if ever, the country is now also reeling from another shock. The privitisation of a number of State Owned Enterprises(SOEs). It does not need a rocket scientist to see that the liquidation of Air Namibia, is part of a grandmaster plan of privatisation involving SOEs like the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport), Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP), Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), Telecom Namibia and the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco). The…

27 Feb

The Time Traveler: Gun culture

info_e12wt4csUncategorisedAnglo-Saxon, Gun culture

Hugh Ellis I had a weird experience on YouTube recently. I’m into music, so I had liked and watched several videos of a music instrument store in Texas called ‘Alamo Pianos’. It seems the Alamo - a Texan fort that a small group of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant American settlers once defended against a horde of Mexican troops - is a touchstone word for US right-wing groups. Soon the YouTube algorithm flooded my recommendations with large, bearded white men taking about defending their homeland, family, traditions, and of course, their ‘right’ to own and shoot guns. Some YouTube gun content is…

27 Feb

We are not in crisis- Meatco CEO

info_e12wt4csUncategorisedMeatco, Mwilima Mushokabanji, Rainer Ritter, We are not in crisis

Kandjemuni Kamuiiri With the continued demise of public enterprises and a difficult operating environment, our Reporter Kandjemuni Kamuiiri’s interviewed Meatco’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mwilima Mushokabanji (MM), on the state and future of the company. Below is an extract of the interview. WO: Is Meatco under any threat that could see it fold in the short to medium term? MM: We were either going to adapt or perish and as management, we decided to adapt. For Meatco management we are not in a crisis, it’s something that we already saw into the future and we have put up systems, processes…