EDITORIAL: Kudos on shutting down Agribusdev
One thing the Geingob administration is getting right is culling public enterprises that continue to be a burden on fiscal coffers.
The principle of establishing these entities, even non-commercial ones, is so that they drive economic activity. Instead, the opposite is true for the lion’s share of them who face financial ruin, putting our already ailing economy under even more pressure.
Sentimentalism, such as that Air Namibia should have been kept alive just for the sake of bragging that Namibia has a national airline, is exactly what has brought our country to its knees economy-wise.
Having a national airline is a cute statement to make, but at what cost? Can we continue to prioritise empty bragging rights at the expense of investing into our ailing public health system or throwing the Namibian child under the bus by having them taught under trees because money meant for classrooms is channelled to wasteful public enterprises?
Government must take a leaf from the private sector where business performance is everything. No sane person would perpetually throw their money at something that only gobbles it up without returns.
We are thus happy with government’s radical decision to close down the waste that is Agribusdev. Instead of putting food on our table, that entity ate up everything in its sight, from crumbs of public money to grains of maize it is supposed to feed us with.
The principle of establishing these entities, even non-commercial ones, is so that they drive economic activity. Instead, the opposite is true for the lion’s share of them who face financial ruin, putting our already ailing economy under even more pressure.
Sentimentalism, such as that Air Namibia should have been kept alive just for the sake of bragging that Namibia has a national airline, is exactly what has brought our country to its knees economy-wise.
Having a national airline is a cute statement to make, but at what cost? Can we continue to prioritise empty bragging rights at the expense of investing into our ailing public health system or throwing the Namibian child under the bus by having them taught under trees because money meant for classrooms is channelled to wasteful public enterprises?
Government must take a leaf from the private sector where business performance is everything. No sane person would perpetually throw their money at something that only gobbles it up without returns.
We are thus happy with government’s radical decision to close down the waste that is Agribusdev. Instead of putting food on our table, that entity ate up everything in its sight, from crumbs of public money to grains of maize it is supposed to feed us with.
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Namibian Sun
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