Katutura Incubation Centre rebranded

WINDHOEKDENVER ISAACS Nine years after it was established by the City of Windhoek to offer a centralised venue for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the Incubation Centre in Katutura last week underwent a complete brand revamp. On Friday, officials from the municipality, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and representatives of the business community officially launched what is now known as the Bokamoso Entrepreneurial Centre. The rebranding was necessitated in part by the centre's recent transformation into an independent body with its own Trust, the chairperson of the centre's board of trustees, Utete Karimbue Mupaine, told those in attendance. In addition, she said, the rebranding is meant to address a number of false impressions around the role of the SME incubation centre among Namibians. “It has been nearly nine years of dedicated effort towards successfully incubating small businesses into self-standing business entities, and the City of Windhoek as founder and owner of this centre had to overcome several obstacles such as understaffing, lack of partnerships and limited funds to get to the stage where we are today,” Mupaine said. The centre in its current form has 43 stalls, mostly occupied by small businesses offering services such as tailoring and knitting, tourism and travel, joinery, manufacturing of cleaning materials, manufacturing of jukeboxes, solar equipment and installation, events management, water bottling, design and printing, and electronic repairs. The entre expects these businesses to develop into formal small and medium enterprises within two to three years. “The role which SMES play within our economy cannot be over-emphasised. It is because of this reason and the fact that we see the potential of our SMEs to produce exceptional products and services and their ability to create employment and contribute to economic growth of a country, that that the realisation towards the provision of a nurturing environment for the entrepreneur is so important”, Mupaine said. UNITED EFFORT NEEDED Speakers on behalf of the centre applauded the government's efforts towards developing local businesses, but said the public sector was still conspicuous in its absence in this regard. “We have witnessed amongst others that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has a dedicated department which deals with SME issues. In addition, we have also seen that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has established various physical infrastructures nationally through the Namibia Development Corporation, to provide an enabling environment for production and trading by SMEs,” Windhoek mayor Agnes Kafula said. “Besides material and financial support, our SMEs also need mentoring and experience sharing with established businesses. Ultimately, this would result in the creation of new and better employment opportunities, a better environment for business and investment, as well as a more sustainable and diverse economic base, which provides income-generation opportunities,” the mayor added. The deputy minister of trade and industry, Tjekero Tweya, said SMEs contribute approximately 12% to Namibia's annual GDP, while they provide one fifth of the country's jobs. “One of government's biggest challenges as of 2012 is the inadequate and volatile economic growth we have experienced so far, and a lack of employment opportunities. Government is keenly aware that most of the unemployed are young people and women,” Tweya said. He suggested that efforts towards improving the SME sector should be characterised by skills development, coordinated policies linking education systems, skills transformation, employment and decent work. “Financial institutions should provide easy access to funds in order to reduce the costs of doing business, access to business support services should be affordable, and access to land and infrastructure should be fostered,” he said. Tweya added that the multiple reasons for people preferring to go the informal route should be tackled through “integrated policy packages”, which he said should promote a gradual transition to formal activities.