| Communication industry threatened by EPA talks |
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| Written by Desie Heita | |
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Fuel is being added to the already troubled negotiations on
the anticipated Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union.
It has also emerged that the country's lucrative
communication industry may face severe consequences if negotiators fail to push
far enough for the sector during the current negotiations with the EU.Unlike with the Cotonou Agreement, the EPA will be
reciprocal, meaning Namibia will be obliged to open up its market to European
products and services. And communication and transport are Europe's forte, and
thus the concerns by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Works,
Transport and Communication, Shihaleni Ndjaba, over the inclusion of the New
Generations clause into the final and binding EPA agreement.“It is expected that this will brings about ‘the liberalisation’
especially on our communication and air transport sectors,” said Ndjaba at a
media briefing.Between 2004 and 2006, government made more than N$200
million in dividends alone from fixed telecommunication lines, provision of
bulk communication infrastructures, and on mobile phone services.Liberalising the sector may poke a hole to its bulging
purse.EU Ambassador to Namibia, Elizabeth Pape, in response to the
concerns, said “more competition in such areas [of communication and air
transport] will be good to investors.”Namibia is also worried that the inclusion of a New
Generation clause may hamper the country's expansion programme into SADC
market. Namibia's Telecom has already made inroad into Angola, thanks to the
strong base at home.
The New Generations clause includes issues of e-commerce, competition, innovation and intellectual property, public procurement, environment, and good governance.Another serious issue is the preferential treatment extended to South Africa under a refined Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement. Pape said the EU is doing this because of South Africa's bigger market and is more competitive than other SADC countries.To Namibia, this poses a threat and may bring about some limitations, said Andrew Ndishishi, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.The threat will be the flooding of Namibian market with European products, especially dairy products such as cheese. Namibia is already seeing more of these products coming in through South Africa.“How would we control the movements of products?” Ndishishi pondered.A limitation may lie within the rules of origin and its effect on Namibia's intentions to establish a manufacturing sector. Ndishishi says the country would not be in position to manufacture something of which a component's raw material did not come from South Africa. |
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