NIPDB urges Mbumba to speed up its legitimacy

The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) has urged President Nangolo Mbumba to expedite the finalisation of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Facilitation Bill (NIPFB) before he leaves office next month.In a letter to Mbumba this week, NIPDB CEO and chairperson Nangula Uaandja raised concerns over the prolonged legislative process, stressing the need for alignment between the bill and the Public Entities Governance Act.In September 2024, NIPDB said the new law was necessary to ensure its “mandate and legitimacy”.Uaandja’s letter is seen as a final push to legitimise the entity, whose future in the incoming administration of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah remains uncertain.Without legislative backing, NIPDB is easily dispensable, a situation that could also impact the jobs of those working at the entity.Late former president Hage Geingob established NIPDB as a Section 21 company in 2016, housed under the presidency to expedite investment opportunities in the country.Uaandja reports directly to the president and attends Cabinet meetings on invitation.Uncertain future It is not clear whether Nandi-Ndaitwah retains an appetite for NIPDB, a situation that has created uncertainty.In her letter to Mbumba on Monday this week, Uaandja also called for clearer provisions regarding the establishment of an investment promotion agency.“We are excited by Cabinet’s commitment to ensure that pending bills, amongst them the NIPFB, should be expedited and tabled in parliament before the close of the current session and the start of the newly elected parliament members,” she wrote.The bill, currently under review by the Cabinet Committee on Legislation (CCL), is regarded as a critical tool in enhancing Namibia’s appeal as an investment destination. However, outstanding ambiguities have raised concerns about its effective implementation.“From our reading of the bill, in particular in respect of the establishment of the agency responsible for investment promotion and facilitation, and some matters related to the board, there remain some areas of ambiguity which require clarification to ensure the effective implementation of the bill and alignment with the Public Entities Governance Act,” Uaandja noted.Worry about investment climateShe warned that Namibia is at risk of losing key investment incentives, as the export processing zone (EPZ) and manufacturing incentives, discontinued in 2020, will completely lapse by December.Without alternative measures in place, Uaandja argued, businesses that have relied on these benefits could face severe consequences.“The loss of incentives to these entities, and the lack of legislative space to offer incentives to existing and new investors, could have detrimental effects on the country’s economic development and for much-needed job creation,” she said.To mitigate this risk, the NIPDB has proposed interim amendments to the Foreign Investment Act, allowing government to introduce necessary incentives while awaiting the NIPFB’s finalisation.“As such, it is our recommendation that in the interim, while finalising the NIPFB and related regulations, amendments be made to the Foreign Investment Act to address the glaring policy issues that currently concern the private sector and, importantly, to expedite the government’s ability to address the lack of investment incentives.“We are concerned that the rate of finalisation of the NIPFB, the investment policy and the NIPFB regulations may delay the tabling and coming into force of the bill, thereby hampering the implementation of these incentives,” she wrote.Speaking in April last year during her ministry’s budget presentation in the National Assembly, industrialisation minister Lucia Iipumbu assured that the NIPFB would be promulgated in the 2024/2025 financial year.The bill, which has been in development since 2016, aims to promote sustainable economic growth by attracting both foreign and domestic investment. It seeks to create jobs, accelerate economic expansion and diversify the economy.- nikanor@nmh-hub.com.na

NIPDB urges Mbumba to speed up its legitimacy

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-26

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NIPDB urges Mbumba to speed up its legitimacy

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-26

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