Observer Money – Page 253 – Windhoek Observer

07 Jul

Fishcor board appointed

Observer MoneyLeon Jooste, Minister of Public Enterprises

Staff Writer Minister of Public Enterprises, Leon Jooste, has announced the appointment of a temporary Fishcor board, two months after the previous board term expired. The Fishcor board, which will serve for six months until January 2021, will be chaired by former Executive Director at the African Development Bank Group, and Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia board chairperson, Heinrich Mihe Gaomab II. Other board members include Kalahari Holdings Director and Social Security Commission's Executive Officer, Milka Mungunda. Former Magistrate, Ruth Herunga, and University of Namibia Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Head, Dr. Penny Hiwilepo van Hal, are two members…

01 Jul

MTC unveils N$101,7m sponsorships

Observer MoneyMTC, MTC Windhoek Fashion Week, Netball

Staff Writer MTC on Tuesday unveiled sponsorships totalling N$101,700,000 to 14 different beneficiaries, across 7 different sports codes which includes Soccer, Horse Racing, Boxing, Rugby, Hockey, Netball and the Youth Games over a 3 year period. In boxing, MTC chose to maintain its relationship with the MTC Nestor Sunshine and Salute Boxing Academies by giving them an N$1 million dollar per annum, an increase from N$1,750,000 to N$2,750,000. MTC Kilimanjaro Boxing received an increase of N$100,000 per annum from N$400,000 to N$500,000. In football, MTC will continue its relationship with the annual Dr Hage Geingob Cup, giving the event an…

30 Jun

Old Mutual donates Covid19 equipment

Observer MoneyCovid-19, Ministry of Health and Social Services, Old Mutual

Andrew Kathindi As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country at an alarming rate, last week, Old Mutual handed over devices to the Ministry of Health and Social Services worth over N$900 000. In a bid to continue supporting the fight against COVID-19, Old Mutual donated 35 Dell laptops and 37 Samsung tablets procured at a total cost of N$ 998 030.46 to capacitate the Ministry’s surveillance system capability based on the identified and prioritised needs at national, regional and district level during and after COVID-19. “These laptops are each installed with Office Home software, Antivirus, a mouse and…

26 Jun

Bag of Hope Initiative hands over donations

Observer MoneyCovid-19, FirstRand Namibia, HOPE, RMB Namibia

Staff Writer RMB Namibia, through the HOPE initiative of FirstRand Namibia, recently handed over N$166 000 consisting of N$60 000 worth of maize, N$24 800 of pasta, N$26 400 of Weetbix, N$40 200 of cornflakes, N$4 300 of juice, and N$11 000 worth of soup packets to vulnerable families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. FirstRand Namibia established the ‘Bag of Hope’ initiative under their HOPE Fund in April 2020 and partnered with Bokomo Namibia and Co-Feed Namibia to feed the needy and the most vulnerable families in Namibia, whose impoverished situation has been exacerbated by COVID-19. Through the Bag of…

26 Jun

FNB supports Van Rhyn Primary School

Observer MoneyCovid-19, FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust, FNB

Community Donation of N$10,000 from FNB Central Cluster Brian Kandanga through the FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust. Items include: Face protector shields, gloves, hand sanitizers and masks. Due to the current situation (COVID-19) the school finds itself in a very difficult financial situation. As per WHO and Namibian Government regulations, schools need to purchase items which are very costly. The school can only guarantee quality education if the learners are healthy and if measures are in place that can protect them from the current pandemic. “From the school on the hill, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to FNB…

26 Jun

Ministry not relaxing English requirement

Observer Money

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Education has no plans to relax the English promotion requirement for critical grades. This comes amid calls for the current school curriculum to be revised, which currently has English as promotional language, particularly for learners in rural areas who are believed to be held back by the demand to attain a 40 percent pass mark for promotion. According to the latest promotion policy of 2015, a learner in Grades 5-7 should be promoted to the next grade if they have obtained an E-grade (40 percent) or better in 5 out of 6 promotional subjects, and…

26 Jun

Parliament postpones abortion discussion

Observer MoneyDeputy Minister of Health, Esther Muinjangue, NUDO, Parliament

Andrew Kathindi The discussion on the issue of abortion has been postponed until Thursday 2 July, after it was officially raised in Parliament by NUDO leader and Deputy Minister of Health, Esther Muinjangue. After giving notice to the house to discuss the issue, Muinjangue raised the matter Thursday, although she maintained she was not for abortion in her personal capacity. “The fact is that there are young girls who carry out abortion, whether it is traveling to other neighbouring countries or whether carrying it out in the backyards of our homes, it is taking place. Abortion does not only affect…

26 Jun

Govt tourism plans unlikely

Observer MoneyCovid-19, president Hage Geingob, tourism

...as Health ministry insist on 14 day quarantine Andrew Kathindi Government’s touted plan to revive the tourism industry could be dead in the water before it has gotten off the ground after it has emerged that its requirements may be too strict. This comes after President Hage Geingob announced that part of Namibia’s stage 4 regulations, government will conduct a targeted International Tourism revival initiative between 15 July to 15 August 2020, in collaboration with the tourism sector. Parts of the proposed measures include keeping tourists in a quarantine facility for two weeks at their own risk and cost, after…

25 Jun

SSC pays N$22m under stimulus

Observer MoneySocial Security Commission (SSC)

…as 4,000 applications are rejected Staff Writer The Social Security Commission (SSC) says it has paid over N$22 million to 6,000 employees whose jobs and incomes were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic under its stimulus package. This comes as the commissions received 16,000 applicants of which 4,000 have been rejected and 6,000 are currently undergoing verification. Quizzed on the high number of rejections, SSC’s Senior Manager: Communications & Marketing, Unomengi Kauapirura said, “the applications were rejected for various reasons including that the employee’s salary may not have been impacted on and thus the employees is still receiving their full salary…

25 Jun

NCCI welcomes easing of restrictions

Observer MoneyNamibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), NCCI, NCCI President Sven Thieme, president Hage Geingob

Staff Writer The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) says the easing of lock down measures as the country moves to stage 4 as announced by President Hage Geingob on Monday will allow the local economy and businesses to begin to recover. “It is with great relief that we can welcome the start of our society’s reopening, in the wake of this unprecedented economic lockdown. As we take our first steps along the road to economic recovery, we should be immensely grateful for the efforts by Government and particularly of all those who continue to work so hard to…