Day: May 31, 2023

The total restoration of Parliament’s infrastructure, which was destroyed by fire in January 2022, will only be finalised by 2025, says the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

Mapisa-Nqakula said Parliament has directed the setting up of a rebuilding project, implemented through the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and other stakeholders, including the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and National Treasury.

She said National Treasury has also allocated an amount of R118 million for the 2023/2024 financial year, which will include funding for office accommodation and ancillary work, referred to as “unforeseen expenditure” in the Medium-Term Budget Statement, towards this work.

“National Treasury also made a firm commitment to cover the rest of the financial requirements for the restoration of its infrastructure and will allocate a total budget of R2 billion over the course of the restoration project.

“We envisage that although much of the work of the restoration will happen during the next year, the total restoration will only be finalised by 2025,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.

Mapisa-Nqakula presented the Parliament’s R4. 351 billion for the 2023/24 financial year on Wednesday.

She said the total allocation received from National Treasury amounts to R3. 895 billion, and the shortfall in the amount of R456 million will be funded by retained earnings, donor funding and the revenue of Parliament.

“This shortfall is largely driven by the cost of employment. The National Treasury allocation for the compensation of employees amounts to R965 million, whilst the projected expenditure is R1. 323 billion,” the Speaker said.

Saving costs

Mapisa-Nqakula noted that the baseline reductions have caused significant strain on the budget and will need to be addressed by cost-saving measures that Parliament has already initiated.

These include a revision of Travel Policy, Voluntary Early Retirement Dispensation (VERD) and organisational realignment.

In addition, she said inflation is expected to remain high, driving up the cost of Parliament’s goods and services.

“Parliament officials will therefore have to engage National Treasury on the impending shortfalls in the allocation of Parliament’s budget. The Parliamentary Budget Office – a separate entity in terms of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act – receives a transfer payment under Programme 3 and will need more funding over time to function effectively.

“Also included in this 2023/24 appropriation is an amount of R58 million to be utilised to achieve Parliament’s new transformational targets, which are incorporated to drive the new strategic direction toward the 7th Parliamentary Term. Parliament will embark on preparing the Strategic Plan and budgeting for the 7th Parliament,” the Speaker said.

She said the officials of National Treasury and Parliament will engage to ensure that the 7th Strategy is fully funded.

She added that although there is currently a budget shortfall, the low rate of expenditure on certain items, has resulted in unspent funds.

“These funds will be used to address the shortfall for the 2023/24 budget. While the overall budget appears to be significant for 2023/24, the amount available for discretionary allocation is small,” the Speaker said.

She said the Accounting Officer has limited control over the following allocations in the budget:

Direct charge for Members’ remuneration;

Transfers to political parties;

PARMED payments;

Facilities for Members;

Benefits for former Members;

Salary adjustments decided by the sector bargaining process, and

Contingent liabilities.

The composition of the budget should be reviewed to reflect the availability and use of resources, in a more accurate way, Mapisa-Nqakula said. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Hage Geingob said the high unemployment rate, especially amongst the youth, can disrupt peace and stability, therefore Namibia is open to business by foreign investors in an effort to combat the unemployment crisis.

Geingob during a courtesy visit to State House by a delegation of 11 investors from India on Wednesday, said although Namibia has political peace, the high unemployment rate especially amongst the youth is not a good thing and can disrupt the peace.

“Politically we are peaceful but unemployment, youth unemployment is not a good thing to have, it can disrupt peace. While we can boast that we are a peaceful country, we have basic problems of unemployment. We have really been suffering since I took over office from the economic downturn, severe drought and COVID-19, but now we are very optimistic and Namibia is open to do business,” he said.

At the same occasion, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the government has put in place a governance framework that supports investment accompanied by the rule of law.

“We have a youthful population and we prioritise our youth to ensure that we provide a skilled labour force to ensure productivity of labour competitiveness of companies for optimal benefit that we are hoping should be mutually shared between the investors and our country so that we can prosper together,” she noted.

Head of delegation, Honorary Consul of Namibia to India, Akkshye Tulsyan said India and Namibia share a longstanding relationship based on mutual respect, shared values and commitment to enhance cooperation across various domains, including economic, cultural and trade fields.

“Namibia’s effort to foster an environment conducive to international partnership has facilitated the growth of bilateral relations. Let us reaffirm our commitment to further deepening the bond between India and Namibia by harnessing the immense potential that exists between our bilateral relations. We can create a bright future for our nations and contribute to the wellbeing of the global community,” he noted.

The delegation included business investors in education, manufacturing of medical equipment, water treatment and technology amongst others.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Environment and Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta has emphasised the importance of African youth contributing to innovative development programmes that are compatible to the Sustainable Development Goals and regional tourism programmes.

Shifeta at the opening of the African Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge at Swakopmund on Wednesday said young people should aim to become transformational industry change-makers and future leaders of the tourism sector.

“The youth of Africa and all industry players should collaborate and form partnerships to place African brands/destinations at the centre of the global dialogue, displaying and expressing the love and warmth of the African people, diverse culture, abundant wildlife and rich history of the continent in your engagements with friends across the globe,” he expressed.

The Namibian Government, he said, is a member state of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), which enables it to subscribe to and support its agenda of Africa that positions tourism at the centre stage for inclusive growth in order to optimise the sector’s contribution to sustainable development of Africa at large.

“This African agenda for inclusive development can only be achieved with the inclusion of the youth and women in the tourism ecosystem. I therefore urge you all to embrace innovation, digital disruptive change and harness your potential to succeed in the tourism sector and your participation at this summit is of utmost crucial and surely indicates your passion and love for the industry,” he said.

The summit is a pan-African youth initiative which was established in 2019 in South Africa.

It serves as a voice for the youth and emerging enterprises in tourism, travel, hospitality, aviation and all related industries with the sole objective to among others; connect, innovate and grow themselves, their businesses and the entire travel & tourism economy of the African countries.

The four-day event aims to harmonise and influence government policies, introduce strategies and adopt new technologies that support the development and growth of the Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises, tourism businesses and create market access for youth entrepreneurship.

It is being attended both in-person and virtually by about 2 000 attendees from 38 African countries.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) has said the application for, and issuance of import, export, rebates and transit permits are free of charge.

MIT Executive Director (ED), Sikongo Haihambo in a statement informed the public that applications and issuance of MIT permits are free of charge and that all individuals seeking import, export, rebate, or transit permits should apply on the MIT official website.

This statement was issued after the ministry noticed that some individuals, agents, and groups have been misleading the public and charging them on the applications and issuance of MIT permits.

The ED urged the public to report any activities related to payment for the application and issuance of permits to the ministry.

Haihambo also encouraged the public to seek assistance at any of the ministries’ 14 regional offices at no cost.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

President Hage Geingob said the high unemployment rate, especially amongst the youth, can disrupt peace and stability, therefore Namibia is open to business by foreign investors in an effort to combat the unemployment crisis.

Geingob during a courtesy visit to State House by a delegation of 11 investors from India today, said although Namibia has political peace, the high unemployment rate especially amongst the youth is not a good thing and can disrupt the peace.

“Politically we are peaceful but unemployment, youth unemployment is not a good thing to have, it can disrupt peace. While we can boast that we are a peaceful country, we have basic problems of unemployment. We have really been suffering since I took over office from the economic downturn, severe drought and COVID-19, but now we are very optimistic and Namibia is open to do business,” he said.

At the same occasion, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the government has put in place a governance framework that supports investment accompanied by the rule of law.

“We have a youthful population and we prioritise our youth to ensure that we provide a skilled labour force to ensure productivity of labour competitiveness of companies for optimal benefit that we are hoping should be mutually shared between the investors and our country so that we can prosper together,” she noted.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

It is imperative to invest in technological development and in human resources by capacitating the next generation of tourism professionals and leaders with strong digital skills.

This, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Director for the Africa Department Elcia Grandcourt, is paramount and instrumental to drive the future of the sector and contribute to the socio-economic advancement of the African region.

Grandcourt while addressing the opening session of the 5th African Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit (AYITS) on Wednesday in Swakopmund, said innovation, technology and digitalisation are an integral part of the evolution process of the tourism industry.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the urgency to integrate digital technology into the tourism and travel industry to reimagine businesses and destinations, design innovative tourism experiences, create or modify existing business operating processes, so as to adapt to the new conditions and features of the global context,” she explained.

Africa, she added is the youngest continent in the world, with 60 per cent of its population being under the age of 25, which should be an opportunity for the continent’s growth.

“This can only however be the case if these new generations are fully empowered to realise their best potential. It is thus especially important that young people are included in the decision-making processes and given appropriate opportunities and proper means to work and innovate the tourism sector,” the director stressed.

Erongo Governor Neville Andre Itope at the same event supported the recently established Africa Tourism Innovation Hub’s main objectives to support the digital transformation in the tourism sector and build pragmatic tourism entrepreneurship programmes that empowers the youth with insight of the tourism enterprises and business intellectual property in formation and access to global travel markets, mentorship and funding opportunities.

Established in Namibia at the 4th AYITS held in Windhoek in 2022, the African Tourism Innovation Hub aims to provide mentorship to enterprising youth from across the continent and transition their ideas into viable start-up companies.

“The Namibian Government has put together a roadmap which is the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (2022-2024), to aid the recovery process of the sector,” Itope highlighted.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency