Page 1285 – Windhoek Observer

22 Jul

Bank Windhoek releases Green Bond Impact Report

UncategorisedBank Windhoek, Namibia, NSX

Staff Writer Bank Windhoek this week published its first Green Impact Report. The Report details projects that received funding from its NSX listed Green Bond proceeds and highlights the core environmental impact indicators on a project level basis. The impact indicators according to the bank are derived from the bank’s Green Bond Framework and the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles. Green Bonds are one of the most prominent capital raising innovations in the area of sustainable finance over the past decade and the majority of applications for green financing was for solar energy projects to generate electricity to…

22 Jul

NWR records N$22 million profit

UncategorisedAmbassador Leonard Iipumbu, Annual General Meeting (AGM), Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR)

Staff Writer Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) Chairperson Ambassador Leonard Iipumbu has announced that the hospitality group has managed to record a N$20 million profit, more than 20 years after its creation. "After more than 20 years, we managed to record a profit for the first time since our creation in 1999. This past financial year saw us record a N$22 million profit, which is a N$41 million improvement on the 2018 financial year. We achieved this by increasing our revenue by 11 percent compared to the 2018 financial year and by keeping our operating expenses flat, despite inflationary pressures," Iipumbu…

22 Jul

Introspection: Will the Swapo party recognize its mirror image?

UncategorisedCentral Committee, Opposition Parties, Swapo Party

Citizen Nahas Angula The Central Committee of the SWAPO-Party joined by leaders from the structures is due to meet in Windhoek from 25-26 July 2020 to conduct what President Hage Geingob describes as an introspection of its own conduct. The Party will examine itself with the view of finding out whether it still represents the interest of the broad masses of the Namibian people. The Presidential and National Assembly election results of 2019 clearly demonstrated that there is widespread feeling of disillusionment, especially among the youth, in the way the Party is running the affairs of the country. Many voters…

22 Jul

Banning alcohol solves nothing

National Newsalcohol, Church, Police

Ever since South Africa re-banned alcohol in their country, noises about doing the same in Namibia are louder. We disagree with the clamor. Bans are not solutions; they only reveal your fears. Banning anything is the lazy man’s governance path. It is harder to investigate a problem from the bottom-up and delve into the ugly side of life; so, people avoid doing it. And, empty state coffers make such programs nearly impossible these days. Prohibition will not work; it has already been tried and failed over and over again. And yet, the police and church groups keep demanding that everyone…

21 Jul

SADC-PF lawmakers fret over elusive Electoral Justice

Observer MoneySADC Model Law, SADC MPs, SADC-PF

Moses Magadza WINDHOEK – A call has been made for Members of Parliament to support efforts to bring about fair and credible elections that deliver electoral justice. The call comes in the wake of increasingly tightly-contested elections and electoral disputes in the SADC Region. Victor Shale, the Principal Consultant at Shalestone Elections & Governance Consultants made the call when he addressed parliamentarians. The MPs represented their countries on the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s Standing Committee on Democratisation Governance and Human Rights, last week. He said electoral contests in the SADC region and Africa had become “highly competitive and often followed by…

21 Jul

Haste makes waste

National NewsNamibia, The Mass Housing Project (MHP)

… houses hurriedly produced are done poorly Namibia has a shameful housing backlog. Tens of thousands of people want to buy small homes, but cannot - there are none in the market in their price range. The Mass Housing Project (MHP) that crashed five years ago was supposed to address this. However, houses remain incomplete or not built at all. Some are finished but remain unoccupied. And now, complaints are coming from those who bought low-cost houses that foreshadow an unpleasant backstory. Houses completed in haste due to political pressure may have been built poorly. According to complaints, many of…

21 Jul

Be mindful of your mental health

Observer MoneyFirstRand Namibia’s Employee Wellbeing Specialist, Marjolize Scholtz, mental health

Marjolize Scholtz Our world has been turned upside-down – and this is affecting your wellbeing more than you might realize. FirstRand Employee Wellbeing Specialist, Marjolize Scholtz shares advice for managing anxiety and practicing self-care. There’s a lot to be stressed out about these days. If it’s not the pandemic, it’s the alarming state of the economy, the uncertainty around lockdown regulations, or the grind of being stuck at home and trying to balance work and life (and, in many cases, home schooling as well). It’s normal to experience anxiety, fear, depression, loneliness, hopelessness and mental fatigue. ‘In a way, we…

21 Jul

Make minimalist habits the new normal

Uncategorisedlockdown

...declutter and be minimalist to keep it that way Jackie Wilson Asheeke Last year, I wrote about my decision to de-clutter my life. After a year, I can report that I have reached most of my goals. I have taken up minimalism to keep from sliding back into the bad ‘ol days of consumerism and directionless living. I have saved lots of money; I feel free of ‘stuff’; and I feel that everything near me is what I choose to have in my life. You can achieve that too. My previously jam-packed storage rooms are neatly organized and nearly empty,…

21 Jul

Credit Guarantee Scheme gazetted

UncategorisedCredit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (NASRIA)

Staff Writer The long awaited Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), which aims provide collateral cover to qualifying SMEs, was gazzetted last month. The CGS which will be rolled-out in collaboration with the Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (NASRIA) under the Namibia Financial Sector Strategy, with a N$100 million allocation, for which N$2 million will be dedicated to the establishment of a database for SMEs. The facility size will be scaled up over the medium-term through greater public and private sector support. Although SMEs and entrepreneurs will still continue to apply for credit at commercial banks, it is the financial institutions which…

21 Jul

FNB branches revert to rotational operations model

UncategorisedCovid-19, FNB Namibia

Staff Writer FNB Namibia has announced that their branches will revert to the rotational operations model for the foreseeable future. “This means that every branch will operate on a 50 percent staff capability only, in order to curb branch activities, thereby assisting government in containing the spread of the virus,” said Rodney Forbes, FNB Executive Officer: Points of Presence. “The spread of COVID-19 is still ongoing and even increasing in some parts of the country. As a responsible corporate citizen, we wish to play our part in limiting the exposure of both our clients and staff to the possibility of…