Uncategorised – Page 68 – Windhoek Observer

17 Oct

FlyWestair to service Joburg route

UncategorisedCEO Henri van Schalkwyk, FlyWestair, Namibia Airports Company (NAC)

Staff Writer The Namibia Airports Company (NAC) has announced that FlyWestair will start flights between Windhoek and Cape Town from the 23rd of October. According to the NAC the flights which will be taking off from Hosea Kutako International Airport and the airline will be serving the route with two flights per week, on Mondays and Fridays. “FlyWestair will make history next month, when they will become the first privately-owned Namibian airline to operate a scheduled passenger route between Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport. FlyWestair schedule will start on Tuesday, 03 November 2020 with…

17 Oct

Agribank disburse over N$246 million worth of loans

UncategorisedAgribank, Sakaria Nghikembua

Staff Writer Agribank disbursed N$246 million of loans in the financial year ended 31 March 2020 and of this amount, more than N$21 million was paid exclusively to female clients, while N$52 million went to the youth (below 40 years of age). According to the bank’s latest financials, Agribank also extended funding worth over N$15 million to communal farmers without collateral, while over 8-thousand farmers countrywide benefitted from training and mentorship interventions during the same period. “The Bank continues to deliver credible financial performance as its loan book grew by 11 percent to N$3.01 million in 2020 from N$2.8 million…

16 Oct

Recipes – Biscuits and Gravy

Uncategorised

Jackie Wilson Asheeke Money is seriously tight. This old southern recipes can feed the family and not throw your wallet out of the window. These days, there is a resurgence of old school soul food cooking by mainstream white recipe books, magazines and TV shows as if the biscuits and gravy I’ve had all my life is something newly discovered. Cultural appropriation is not a good thing. Forget any recipe for biscuits and gravy that reads like one of the TV food shows. This is a down home, po’ folks meal that does not need Master Chef or Gordon Ramsey.…

16 Oct

FNB, DBN partner on Credit Guarantee Scheme

UncategorisedDevelopment Bank of Namibia (DBN), FNB Namibia

Staff Writer FNB Namibia has partnered with the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) on the risk sharing initiative, which was announced by the Minister of Finance, Hon. Iipumbu Shiimi on the 19 August 2020. “Our government and FNB as one of the leading banks in the country, value this sector because of its great potential for the socio-economic development in terms of economic growth, employment creation and poverty alleviation,” Sam Ikela, Segment Head, Small Medium Enterprises at FNB said. “The intention of the guarantee scheme is to alleviate the collateral constraints entrepreneurs are facing and it will cover loans up…

15 Oct

In times of trouble, manage your money better

UncategorisedBank of Namibia, Bank Windhoek, Covid-19, Economic Outlook

Samuel Linyondi The Bank of Namibia's latest Economic Outlook expects the Namibian economy to fall into a deeper contraction during 2020, mainly due to the devastating impact of COVID-19 across all sectors. This means that as we conclude the year, we will be faced with a few challenges. For some, it means having taken a drop in their salary, while for others, a total loss of income. Few are fortunate enough to still have a job and have their income unaffected. What these times of uncertainty have taught us is that having savings for emergency situations is critical. As we…

15 Oct

Unpacking the impact of Covid-19 on the Namibian economy

UncategorisedCovid-19, FirstRand Namibia, World Health Organisation

Ruusa Nandago After the first outbreak was reported in December 2019, the World Health Organisation officially characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. This pandemic is a crisis like no other, and there was a substantial degree of uncertainty around its impacts on lives and livelihoods. Governments across the world essentially had to navigate the crisis with a blindfold on, implementing lockdowns and containment measures of varying degrees without any indication of their effectiveness. The economic and market data that has since been released shows that these measures have had devastating and far reaching effects and have pushed…

13 Oct

NWR, NTA partner in apprenticeship programme

Uncategorised

Staff Writer Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) says it’s making progress in giving effect to an apprenticeship funding agreement it entered into with the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), earlier this year. The agreement makes provision for the NTA to fund the apprenticeship training of 80 young Namibians, recruited from all fourteen regions, towards acquiring the National Vocational Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism qualification in the areas of ‘Core Commercial Cookery Skills’, ‘Food and Beverage Operations’, ‘Front Office Operations ’and ‘Housekeeping Operations’. Underlining the need for continuous investment in training to enhance the competitiveness of the Hospitality and Tourism sector, NWR Managing…

10 Oct

The new normal surely begets ideological policies

UncategorisedMarxist-Leninist ideology

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Given the ideological backlog of 30 years plus, during which the ideological content of many of the government’s programmes have been in the backburner, it is time that Namibia’s ideologues and adherents and believers in the Marxist-Leninist ideology, come to the party and subject every government policy, programme and framework to an ideological test and standard. To see to what extent any of them are a true departure from the status quo of capitalism, or intended to usher in a new era of ideology, accompanied by socialist oriented policies and programmes meant to meaningfully address the many legacies…

10 Oct

Tests to decide employment are biased

Uncategorisedemployment

Jackie Wilson Asheeke I remain highly sceptical of psychometric testing to decide the personality of those applying for jobs. How can a panel of white mostly male psychologists and HR practitioners make a test that is in any way fair and applicable to people of another colour, culture or class? These tests are geared for white people’s ideas of what is an ‘acceptable’ professional personality trait are. Why do we continue with allowing these South African companies to pump us for money to engage in job selection practices that are discriminatory? Psychometric testing is a short-cut effort to measure intelligence.…

10 Oct

Hair today, gone tomorrow

UncategorisedNamibian, The Time Traveler

The Time Traveler: Hugh Ellis The Namibian media last week reported that about sixty pupils who were sent home from Outjo Secondary School for transgressing the school's rules on hair had returned to school. Said one of the boys: ‘We shaved our hair. Some of us did not want to return to the school but we didn't have a choice so we shaved it.’ It was rumoured that one white pupil with long hair had not been sent home like black pupils were. The school principal, however, said, ‘that was not brought to my attention.’ The situation reminded me of…