NEEEB misunderstood, World Bank told

Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila says government’s proposed New Equitable Economic Empowerment Bill (NEEEB) is misunderstood, amid fears that - once implemented - it would result in the unfair loss of assets on the part of previously advantaged Namibians. She made the remarks during a recent courtesy call by World Bank vice-president for eastern and southern Africa, Victoria Kwakwa, to State House. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the Bill would ensure that all Namibians share in the economic prosperity of the country’s resources in an equitable manner. “We are not going to assume that just because the economy grows, poverty would necessarily go away. Some people become super rich, while others become poorer, so we should come up with a process that ensures that the benefits from the natural resources and the opportunities that become available are distributed equitably. “But that was misunderstood to mean taking it away from the rich and giving it to [the poor], and that is when people start to talk about reverse discrimination,” she said of the intended policy framework. Equitable mannerAccording to her, once enacted, the policy would ensure all Namibians, irrespective of race or social class, benefit from the country’s resources. “We are saying that we are not taking away from the rich to give to the poor. We are only saying... that benefits should flow in an equitable manner that impacts positively on the lives of Namibians.”Kuukongelwa-Amadhila said many aspects of the framework were unnecessarily frowned upon, despite the positive outcomes it intended to yield. “There are so many things that are positive that we are talking about under that framework [but] people just focus on ownership, that you should have Namibians [as part of a company]. “Then people started to say ‘we are forced to sell our assets’, no,” Kuugongelwa-Amadhila clarified. World Bank rejects NEEEBA study commissioned by the World Bank has concluded that there is no need for the NEEEB, set to be introduced at a time when value addition and local empowerment is pushed in Namibia’s green hydrogen and oil and gas industries. The idea behind the Bill was to ensure a balanced redistribution of wealth and resources in the country. The emotive proposed law originally sought to compel investors to sell at least 24% ownership - or as otherwise determined by the minister of trade - to previously disadvantaged Namibians.Government has since shelved its hard-line stance, but investors remain unsure of setting up shop in Namibia until there is absolute certainty about what the law would look like.In its national green hydrogen strategy development, the World Bank study observed that no general local content nor ownership legislation is currently enacted in Namibia, although NEEEB is one of the ways government seeks to address the issue.

NEEEB misunderstood, World Bank told

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-25

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NEEEB misunderstood, World Bank told

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-25

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