Special Focus
Cut diamond taxes for future gain
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- Clemencia Jacobs
- Hits: 54
The type of tax regime that is currently in place for Namibia’s diamond sector was appropriate during the time when it was easy to mine for diamonds, however, most land deposits have now been depleted and mining has become costly, says Kennedy Hamutenya, diamond commissioner at the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Namdeb director.
“Most of our land deposits have now been depleted and we are now working on remote satellite deposits, some of which are costly to mine because of the depth at which the deposits are and the capital needed to mine them. In the old days one could pick up diamonds from the surface of the desert sands but we no longer have that privilege. We have gone back and treated some of the tailings dumps and some still remain to be worked on.
“There are still a number of places onshore where we can mine out remaining diamonds but those projects are marginal and unviable at the current tax levels. We would leave those deposits behind unless the tax regime is reduced to make their exploitation much more attractive,” said Hamutenya.
Industrial upgrading and modernisation in Tunisia and Namibia
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- Manufacturers' Association Column (Hennie Fourie)
- Hits: 58
The Namibian Manufacturers’ Association (NMA) was invited by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to participate in a study tour to Tunisia to gain appreciation of their Industrial Upgrading and Modernisation Programme. The tour was supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and took place from 23 to 27 January.
Ms Petrina Nakale, acting director: Industrial Development at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, headed the Namibian delegation which consisted of representatives of the public and private sectors of Namibia, as well as some technical support institutions. The CEO of the NMA, Hennie Fourie, attended on behalf of the association.
The main purpose of the tour was to acquaint the newly constituted National Steering Committee, which is responsible for the Namibian Industrial Upgrading and Modernisation Programme, with the experience of Tunisia in implementing this programme. An Industrial Upgrading and Modernisation Programme was developed for the SADC region in 2007 and validated in 2008. In conformity with this programme, the Ministry of Trade and Industry also commissioned the development of such a programme for Namibia.
Read more: Industrial upgrading and modernisation in Tunisia and Namibia
Manufacturing sector set to grow 4%
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- Nyasha Francis Nyaunwa
- Hits: 54
The CEO of the Namibia Manufacturers Association, Hennie Fourie says the outlook for the manufacturing sector in 2012 is one of slow growth due to the impact of the economic crisis in the Euro zone area.
Fourie says he expects real growth of between 3 and 4% in the manufacturing sector contributing about 15 and 16% to GDP, up from 14.4% recorded in 2010. The projected growth is a sharp decline to the average real rate growth of 6% per annum during the period 2003 to 2010. Fourie said: “We are going to experience slow growth this year of 3 to 4% real growth. We will experience growth because of certain projects that will come on board this year such as the chicken plant.” The NMA CEO says the sector would have experienced negative growth if it was not for its reliance on the emerging markets in the SADC region and other African countries which have been resilient in the face of an economic slowdown in the developed markets.
“We are not mainly dependent on Europe, otherwise we could experience negative growth. Most of our exports are to SADC countries and most of Africa is more or less experiencing positive growth,” he said.
Consumers need protection
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- Yvonne Amukwaya
- Hits: 50
Namibian Manufacturers are currently facing many challenges as a result of the infiltration of foreign retailers in the economy.
Heiko Niedermeier, managing director of NEO Paints Factory, said that although his company is not affected by the import of low quality products, such products unfortunately affect the poor and illiterate consumers mostly because these products are targeted at them.
They require protection from institutions such as the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI), he said.
Niedermeier also pointed out that it is not only the Chinese who import low quality paint, but also South African importers.
2012 promising for fishing industry
- Special Focus
- Published Date
- Clemencia Jacobs
- Hits: 56
The fishing and fish processing sector is expected to improve after a decline of 2.0% during 2011. However, growth will remain negative at 1.8% according to the Bank of Namibia.
In its latest Economic Outlook Report, the Bank states that total landings improved in 2011 owing to good fisheries management.
“Going forward, it is expected that conditions will continue to improve in 2012, assisted by increased fishing quotas for 2012. However, fluctuating exchange rates and increasing oil prices remain major drag for the industry, also the European debt crisis continue to slow down the performance of the industry,” the Bank states.
Romè Mostert, an analyst at Simonis Storm Securities, concurs with this view. He says the prospects are promising for the local fishing industry with healthy resources across the spectrum.
“Catch rates and sizes are extremely good resulting in high catch efficiencies which will add pressure on the Ministry of Fisheries to increase TACs and quotas.
