Business sector welcomes NNN’s new Cabinet

Namibia’s business sector has welcomed president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s ascension as the country’s first female president and the steps she has taken to structure her government executive.

Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting chief executive Helena Mootseng has congratulated the president and her new team sourced from various sectors of the economy.

“At the same time, we appreciate the effort of the incoming administration to cut the size of Cabinet from 21 to 14; this is commendable given the huge public wage bill and duplication of various mandates,” Mootseng says.

“It is clear that it will not be business as usual as pronounced by the president, and we certainly wholeheartedly welcome this,” she adds.

Mootseng says this move shows Nandi-Ndaitwah is an independent thinker who will not be influenced by stereotypes in her decisions.

The acting chief executive says the chamber is committed to working with the new administration to ensure existing laws and policies and those to be enacted enable the entrepreneurial ecosystem and attract both local and external investments.

“For this, we urge the new policymakers to engage the chamber and the business sectors on their specific portfolios to have a well-detailed understanding of the economic realities and how they can use the law and national budget to solve such issues through entrepreneurship,” she says.

Also welcoming president Nandi-Ndaitwah’s government was the Namibia Local Businesses Association (Naloba).

“We appreciate that the president has changed almost the entire Cabinet and we have expectations that this will uplift the economy of the country,” says Naloba spokesperson Marius Nangolo.

He says the merger of some ministries will cut out the duplication of functions, and in particular, the merger of the ministry of trade with that of international relations will help link local business people with foreign investors.

“For instance, the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board and some departments in the old ministry of trade could have been duplicating functions but now the president has taken steps to align these duplications,” he says.

Nangolo expresses hope that Nandi-Ndaitwah will be accessible so that they can give input through consultations. “Together we can make the difference,” he says.

He says he hopes the new members of Cabinet will do things differently.

“They will be working in offices that were already established but they will be making corrections where mistakes were made.

I hope the appointments were assessed thoroughly by the president, and they are going to deliver,” Nangolo says.

He says while the ministers are new to Cabinet, most of them were civil servants who know the system.

“We were surprised by the appointments because we have been used to the culture that some people in Cabinet are untouchable, but the president has sent out the right message – that if you do not perform, you go out.

“This is the first time that Namibia has had a new Cabinet that does not have many recycled ministers appointed 35 years ago, and this is in the best interest of the country as it is based on merit,” Nangolo said as he congratulated the president and wished her the best in her tenure.

– email: matthew@namibian.com.na