NCCI wants govt to relax borrowing requirements
Blasts ‘skewed investment promotion strategy’
The decentralisation of services is long overdue, especially the operations of the Business and Intellectual Property Authority, the chamber's CEO said.
The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (NCCI) Ongwediva branch wants more to be done to relax collateral and security requirements against loans.
In a press release on Monday, its CEO Charity Mwiya said the chamber feels government should explore - alongside the financial services sector - more creative funding mechanisms tailored to the specific needs of Namibia’s enterprise sector.
“Not just copy-and-paste products from South Africa,” the statement urged, further bemoaning “the inactiveness on the part of the police to respond swiftly to reports of criminal activity, and to stem the smuggling of goods, including liquid fuel, from neighbouring countries”.
The chamber also highlighted concerns about government’s skewed investment promotion strategy that favours foreign investors and ignores the importance of domestic investment.
The issues were raised during an engagement with the parliamentary standing committee on economics and public administration, led by its chairperson Natangwe Iithete, which is on a fact-finding mission in towns in the Oshikoto, Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions.
Decentralise services
The NCCI applauded government's implementation of a credit guarantee scheme, but said more can be done to relax collateral and security requirements against loans.
“By doing so, enterprises will be better placed to swiftly access much-needed loans for working capital to fund asset and stock needs,” Mwiya said.
She further said the decentralisation of services is long overdue, citing the operations of the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa) as an example. She lamented that access to much-needed services adds to the costs of doing business, especially for small enterprises in towns and villages across Namibia.
NCCI also bemoaned “the fact that it is taking far too long for changes to be ushered in that will make Namibia’s business landscape conducive for local entrepreneurs to start an enterprise, and to position already existing firms for growth,” the CEO said.
In a press release on Monday, its CEO Charity Mwiya said the chamber feels government should explore - alongside the financial services sector - more creative funding mechanisms tailored to the specific needs of Namibia’s enterprise sector.
“Not just copy-and-paste products from South Africa,” the statement urged, further bemoaning “the inactiveness on the part of the police to respond swiftly to reports of criminal activity, and to stem the smuggling of goods, including liquid fuel, from neighbouring countries”.
The chamber also highlighted concerns about government’s skewed investment promotion strategy that favours foreign investors and ignores the importance of domestic investment.
The issues were raised during an engagement with the parliamentary standing committee on economics and public administration, led by its chairperson Natangwe Iithete, which is on a fact-finding mission in towns in the Oshikoto, Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions.
Decentralise services
The NCCI applauded government's implementation of a credit guarantee scheme, but said more can be done to relax collateral and security requirements against loans.
“By doing so, enterprises will be better placed to swiftly access much-needed loans for working capital to fund asset and stock needs,” Mwiya said.
She further said the decentralisation of services is long overdue, citing the operations of the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa) as an example. She lamented that access to much-needed services adds to the costs of doing business, especially for small enterprises in towns and villages across Namibia.
NCCI also bemoaned “the fact that it is taking far too long for changes to be ushered in that will make Namibia’s business landscape conducive for local entrepreneurs to start an enterprise, and to position already existing firms for growth,” the CEO said.
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