Nampa, New Era budget allocations at N$54 million

THE budgets allocated to the two state-funded media houses New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) and the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa) have more than doubled this year.

This after the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises allocated N$27 million to New Era, following an allocation of N$10 million in the 2022/23 financial year.

Nampa received N$27 million, up from the N$14 million allocated in the previous financial year.

The two entities have a staff complement of approximately 100 employees.

Last year, the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises indicated that the Cabinet approved a plan to merge Nampa and New Era in an attempt to avoid possible duplication of government activities and unnecessary spending.

This fiscal year, the two entities have been allocated N$54 million and N$110 million over the next two years.

At the time, information and communications technology minister Peya Mushelenga, however, claimed not to have any knowledge of the impending merger, which was rubber-stamped by the Cabinet.

Yesterday, Mushelenga declined to explain the 100% increase in funding and said he would do so when he motivates his ministry’s budget in the National Assembly in a few weeks.

“Wait for me to motivate the budget in parliament, and remember this is not an election year,” he said.

Nampa was established in 1991 as a government news agency responsible for the distribution of local and international news, while NEPC, on the other hand, was established as a result of an act of parliament in 1992.

New Era chief executive officer Christof Maletsky referred The Namibian to the board chairperson, who was not reachable at the time of going to print, and attempts to reach Nampa proved unsuccessful too.

Local media outlets have been struggling to make ends meet since the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, Guy Berger, the director for freedom of expression and media development at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), said the media have been losing money due to advertising revenue lost to social media companies.

Berger also said banks do not often invest in media.

NEPC, as a commercial entity, is supposed to return some dividends to the state, but has fallen short over the years.

Last year, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation said the private sector cannot lead growth, nor create more jobs in Namibia, because it is disadvantaged by competing with inefficient and loss making public enterprises, which are constantly being bailed out.

The two global lenders also indicated that Namibia’s public enterprises and the private sector are operating on an uneven playing field because they are not held to the same standards of accountability and compliance to the law.

Both Nampa and NEPC have, as per available annual reports for 2019 and 2020, been making losses.

Nampa incurred a loss of N$7,6 million in 2019, while NEPC was carrying a loss of N$45 million in 2020.
The two entities have a combined balance sheet of less than about N$150 million.

Email: lazarus@namibian.com.na
Twitter: @Lasarus_A