Nida could pay N$27m to company linked to its ex-boss

A company linked to former Namibia Industrial Development Agency (Nida) board chairperson Lionel Matthews has secured its second tender from the agency in less than a year, with the latest deal potentially earning him and his partners – who include businessman Jason Kasuto – up to N$27 million.In July 2024, Nida awarded a N$2.8 million contract to Monasa Advisory & Associates – for which Matthews is the head of the corporate advisory division – to assess the agency's businesses and recommend a turnaround strategy.Controversially, Monasa has secured a tender to assist Nida with implementing a turnaround strategy that Monasa itself developed.Matthews served as Nida’s board chairperson from September 2020 to September 2021, after the previous board was fired by then public enterprises minister Leon Jooste.In April this year, Nida issued a bid inviting transactional advisors to assist the agency with the implementation of the turnaround strategy developed by Monasa. The aim is to enhance its investment processes and to facilitate the development and actualisation of large-scale projects.Six companies submitted bids, namely Monasa, EOS Capital, Ombu Capital, Tulive Private Equity, High Economic Intelligence and Optimal Agricultural Business Systems.Monasa was awarded the contract. The turnaround strategy also includes raising funds amounting to N$550 million for Nida with Monasa charging a rate of between 3% and 5% commission.This means the company owners could pocket close to N$27 million from the deal if the commission is calculated at the upper end of the scale at 5%.Concerns raised Meanwhile, government sources have raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest, questioning why the agency would appoint the same entity to act as both referee and player in its turnaround activities.Sources also claim that Monasa was privileged to access trading information through its first tender and that they were allegedly unfairly advantaged compared to competitors in securing the implementation deal.Documents seen by this publication include an approval of a payment for N$810 000 to Monasa on 24 September 2024 by Nida's acting CEO Richwell Lukonga.The approval was issued via an internal memo by Nida's chief financial officer, Jeremiah Ntinda.Additional payments of N$946 137 and N$1 082 187 were made on 18 December 2024 and 26 February 2025, respectively. Matthews confirmed being part of Monasa as a ‘contractor’, although a National Assembly document dated 20 April 2023 lists him as a “partner corporate finance advisory of Monasa”, while a press statement issued by Monasa on 5 November 2024 described him as “head of corporate advisory division Monasa Advisory & Associates”.“I am a subcontractor for Monasa, like many others. If you have questions, please refer to Jason Kasuto,” he said.Sources have also questioned Matthews' ties with the current Nida board chairperson, Sebby Kankondi. Both men worked for Nedbank Namibia – Matthews as the managing director and Kankondi as board chairman – although not at the same time. According to documents in possession of this publication, Kankondi's board at Nida makes requests for approval for an exemption of the budget for these contracts.No commentMonasa's managing director, Jason Kasuto, said in an interview that, as a recipient of the contract, he was not in a position to respond to questions directed at him or his company. He instead referred queries to Nida.“The questions posed cannot be answered by an awardee but will be best answered by those that have awarded the above-mentioned contracts. They will also be able to verify and confirm the speculated sentiments shared in the introduction of your mail,” Kasuto said.Among the questions was whether the company had been unfairly advantaged compared to competitors.“It is important to emphasise that Monasa remains an institution of integrity, respect for business ethics, its practices and continues to strive to position itself in the economic transformation through its services when the opportunity avails itself,” Kasuto remarked.Proper channels followed, says agencyNida’s acting CEO Richwell Lukonga confirmed that Monasa had been awarded both contracts. However, he strongly denied claims that procurement processes were not properly carried out. “The two appointments followed a rigorous procurement process as outlined in the procurement act," he said. He confirmed that the contract is valid for the next three years.“The purpose of this was to identify and prequalify transaction advisory services to, among others, help Nida with investment processes, to facilitate the development and actualisation of large-scale projects that align with Namibia’s industrialisation and socio-economic aspirations,” Likonga said.He added: “All the transactional advisors have specialised skills which will be helpful for Nida over the next three years. The six transactional advisors will form part of Nida’s panel for the next three years and we will be assigned work as investment and projects are being implemented.”Lukonga also rejected allegations of a conflict of interest.“Nida sees no possible conflict of interest, as the process of onboarding service providers is done through a transparent process and also in line with the provision of the procurement act,” he said.“The service providers were evaluated purely at the work at hand, the ability to execute without any influence of prejudice. Therefore, there have been absolutely no possible created ties in any manner,” Lukonga added.‘Scrutinised selection process’ Monasa's bid to raise N$550 million for Nida is in collaboration with Standard Bank Namibia, Ino Harith Capital, Tom van Wyk Quantity Surveyors, Dunamis Consulting Engineers & Project Managers (Pty), Gert Hamman Property Valuers, Six Capitals ESG Advisory, and Ellis Shilengudwa Inc.Lukonga further added that there has been no interference from Kankondi in terms of appointments and contracts to awardees.“The chairperson of Nida holds integrity at the helm of the organisation as well as on a personal level, which has in no way interfered with any set guided appointments and awardees, which is governed by the management of Nida," he said."These go through a scrutinised selection process which only selects the most qualified candidates for consideration."One of the goals outlined in Nida’s newly developed turnaround strategy is to create 35 000 jobs over the next five years.Last month, lawmakers called for Nida to be reintegrated into the ministry of trade.

Nida could pay N$27m to company linked to its ex-boss

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-13

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Nida could pay N$27m to company linked to its ex-boss

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-13

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