Capital markets urged to free boards

Ndama Nakashole
Ndama Nakashole - ICG director and former RMB Namibia MD Steve Galloway says capital markets need to bring proper independence to companies’ boards.

Speaking on a panel discussion, titled ‘The Role of Capital Markets in Advancing Corporate Governance’, at the Africa Corporate Governance Conference held in Windhoek on Thursday and Friday, Galloway said corporate governance could best achieved if the appointment of the board of directors of a company was based on ethical levels and ability to take responsibility.

He said that for entities to win, or/and keep winning, when appointing the board of directors of a certain company, the appointing authority must go back to the basic principle of ethics and responsibility.

“We need to train our governors with that integrity to say that your actions have effects to the community, on the people. We need that kind of morality,” he said.

Galloway said he did not think international practises were the only solutions to achieving the best results in corporate governance in Africa.

He said there were different solutions, depending on different locations in the world.

Ubuntu

“Our solutions are more for African problems. I think the spirit of community, the spirit of ubuntu, is one that works well with our solutions to achieve best corporate governance solutions for the continent.”

He added that it was good to learn from others too, as “no region can do it alone”.

Standard Bank Namibia’s head of personal and business banking, Mercia Geises, said shareholders’ activism usually came from executive remuneration. “The activism is usually about aligning the interest of shareholders to those of the executives,” she said.

She added that it was usually in the interest of the company if shareholders let management be at the centre of decision-making, because sometimes when the certain shareholders’ goal/objective was achieved, he or she may not even be a shareholder anymore.

“Short-termism is a challenge. We need to have the company’s best interest at heart,” she said.

Alignment

Sitting on the same panel, the managing director of Nampro Fund, Kauna Ndilula, said she believed in a principle of aligning shareholders, directors and management towards the same objective.

She said some shareholders were financially illiterate while others were well informed. In most cases, these two might collude. She said it would only be in the interest of the company if a well-informed investor was brought in to be part of the shareholders of a certain institution.

AfDB

Another speaker at the conference was Namibia’s executive director at the African Development Bank, Mihe Gaomab, who spoke on the bank’s governance perspectives.

He said the bank treated governance as a cross-cutting issue on project approvals as an enabling developmental outcome.

“Through its due diligence on project evaluation, the bank is conscious of inclusive development involving youth and women, as well as diversity reflecting regional disparities of countries of which some are fragile states on the continent,” he said.

Gaomab added that the bank treated evolving innovative developments and disruptive digital technology as central to its mandate of powering and feeding Africa, industrialising and integrating the continent and improving the quality of life of Africans through service delivery.

He said the bank was cognisant of ethical business leadership by having a database of politically exposed persons when assessing its developmental effectiveness. Gaomab said the bank emphasised robust institutional accountability through its developmental outcomes.

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-28

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 220.46/OZ UP +1.36% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.03% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.58/BBP UP +1.38% | Platinum US$ 907.38/OZ UP +1.40% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.85 | EUR to NAD 20.42 | CNY to NAD 2.62 | USD to NAD 18.93 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.33 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.94 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 220.46/OZ UP +1.36% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.03% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.58/BBP UP +1.38% | Platinum US$ 907.38/OZ UP +1.40%