Namibian, Kenyan businesses solidify links

Government officials spearheading trade and investments between Namibia and Kenya are spending too much time on travelling, meetings and speeches instead of making use of policies and resources to create an enabling environment to accelerate trade and deliver tangible results to benefit the business community, Namibia-Kenya Chamber of Commerce founder Elvis Mboya said.

This follows a recent meeting held in Nairobi between Kenya’s prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for the ministry of foreign and diaspora affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, and Namibia’s foreign affairs minister, Peya Mushelenga.

“These are the same meetings and speeches successive leaders have been delivering for the past 30 years; thereafter, they set up expensive task forces, and then the documents will be left to gather dust,” said Mboya, who served at the Kenya High Commission in Windhoek and as a newspaper journalist in Namibia.

“It's unacceptable that for the past 30 years, the trade between Namibia and Kenya has remained at its lowest despite their huge potential, yet government officials continue to spend enormous time and resources with very little results," he added.

Mboya is confident that despite its scarce resources, the newly created Namibia-Kenya Chamber of Commerce, built on the success of the Namibia-Kenya Trade and Investment, held both in Nairobi and Windhoek, and already connecting over 100 traders on its online and offline platforms, will deliver tangible results in the shortest time possible.