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Trustco secures N$345m loan

Trustco secures N$345m loan

Staff Writer Trustco Finance, a subsidiary of Trustco Group Holdings Limited has secured a US$20 million (approximately N$345 million) loan from Deutsche Investitions Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, a German development finance institution. The loan approval is, however, subject to a final agreement currently being drafted. The bulk of the facility will be used to provide student financing, offered by Trustco Finance, as well as enhancing the educational facilities offered by the Institute for Open Learning (Pty) Ltd (“IOL”), while funding will also be made available to existing students to restructure and refinance their existing obligations as part of the group’s COVID-19 relief…
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Get Deezer – put together your own playlist

Get Deezer – put together your own playlist

…spend time singing to yourself Jackie Wilson Asheeke Even though things are opening up again, the down time on our own should have taught us ways to have fun at home, in our own gardens, with our family members and for less money than we otherwise would have spent. Check out the music service called: “#Deezer”. Since I found it, I have been singing different songs in the shower and to my pets. My 2 dogs and 2 cats told me they love hearing the updated music (they were getting tired of hearing the same old songs). Deezer has nearly…
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Business leadership during a crisis

Business leadership during a crisis

Mbo Mena Luvindao Merriam-Webster defines a crisis as "an unstable or difficult time or state of affairs". It is unplanned or uncontrolled change. During times of crisis, leadership is critical. While the existing economic crisis caused by COVID-19 is unprecedented, small businesses have historically proved themselves to be flexible and resilient. The crisis has led to paradigm shifts in the way we view and conduct our business - don’t bury your head in the sand, but consider new ways of doing things as an entrepreneur. COVID-19 has changed the way we work, and in some industries, it has forced companies…
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!Gawaxab starts work at BoN

!Gawaxab starts work at BoN

Staff Writer Johannes !Gawaxab officially started duty on Monday as third Namibian Governor of the Bank of Namibia following his surprise appointment by President Hage Geingob on 21 April 2020. As Governor,!Gawaxab will also serve as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Bank. On assuming duty,!Gawaxab said that he believes the central bank’s mandate is more than delivering on traditional roles such as monetary policy, and financial stability, but it is also about delivering on an economy that provides prosperity to Namibia. “Therefore, I aim to look at how best do we complement the collaborations between the monetary…
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NCE launches two new websites

NCE launches two new websites

Staff writer On Friday 29 May, the Namibia Chamber of Environment will launch two Namibian Environmental websites: The Environmental Information Service (EIS) and Conservation Namibia. Information about these sites will be spread widely via social media. The EIS has been in the works for more than 15 years. It is now the most comprehensive single source of information on environmental issues in Namibia. The NCE announced a detailed revamp and modernisation of the EIS. It has a new home page to quickly direct the public to different parts of the site, a new fast and easy search engine for the…
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Couch Cat: Clean, red, chapped hands

Jackie Wilson Asheeke I ‘get it’ that we have to wash our hands or have ‘sanitizers’ sprayed onto our hands before we enter every store or building. But, here is the thing. ‘Sanitizers’ is too general; it is not defined. We have some places spending the money to use actual alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The majority are cutting corners. They are using floor cleaners, bathroom disinfectants and industrial detergents mixed with an undefined amount of water and spraying our hands with it. I have the chapped, red and peeling hands to prove it. A visit to the mall may mean entering…
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The Time Traveler: Fixing social media

Hugh Ellis At one time of my life I had four social media accounts. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Oh, and Tumblr for a brief while, and Tinder for a whole five days. Now I only have one, Instagram, and one is the right number of my mental health. Also WhatsApp, maybe, if you call that a social medium, but I only use the message service part of it - a glorified email, really. Unless your profession depends upon it (and many now do), I’d advise one social medium, for one hour a day maximum, is the right amount for most…
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Using COVID for a marketing gimmick?

Jackie Wilson Asheeke I went to Woolworths and Donna Claire in Maerua Mall the other day and was shocked to be harassed at the door by security guards demanding that I ‘sign-in’ before entering the store. What sort of nonsense is that? Why is my name, date of birth, ID number and telephone number needed to enter a store? What has that information to do with blocking the spread of COVID-19? I must receive the numbered tag that ensures the store is not overcrowded, but why is my birthdate a prerequisite for getting that number? And it is selective. I…
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Observatory: Is there hope for 2020 graduates?

Clementine Tjameya Ask any 2020 graduate how they imagined their graduation to be. I don’t know about the rest but I would have wanted to make mine memorable. I would love for my parents to witness me get the qualification I have been working for all these years. But, with the current state of emergency, graduation ceremonies will remain only a figment of my imagination. Worse, job openings for recent graduates are virtually non-existent. Not only is there no celebration of our achievement, we have almost no careers ahead of us where we can use all that we have learned.…
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ANIREP makes acquisitions

ANIREP makes acquisitions

Staff Writer Namibia Stock Exchange listed Alpha Namibia Industries Renewable Power Limited (ANIREP) has announced that it’s in the process of acquiring stakes in two renewable energy projects in Namibia. The company has targeted a 70 percent stake in a 10 MW solar power plant commissioned in 2015 and 2016 connected to the national grid through two 5MW solar PV with a 25 year power purchase agreement contract. The company’s second planned acquisition is an 80 percent stake in a contracting company which has installed about 100 MW of the 150 MW solar PV in Namibia. “In February 2020, shareholders…
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