Manufacturers face 'crippling blow'

The Namibian Manufacturers Association (NMA) yesterday “strongly condemned” government's decision to phase out “sector specific special income incentives granted to registered manufacturers” by the end of the 2020/21 tax year.

“By repealing these incentives, the already struggling manufacturing sector (and the economy at large) will be dealt a crippling blow,” the chief executive officer of the NMA, Ronnie Varkevisser, said in a statement.

The decision was gazetted and published on 22 June 2020.

“The NMA strongly condemns this decision and requests that government rather support the private sector, especially the manufacturing industry, in the form of incentives and thereby give them the necessary room to do business,” Varkevisser said.



'Huge potential'

He said government took the decision “despite the huge potential of the manufacturing sector to create jobs and thereby supporting the Namibian economy”. “There are various examples of the positive effect manufacturing incentives had on creating jobs,” Varkevisser added.

To grow the economy and the manufacturing sector is a “slow and painful process”, he said.

“It all starts with an enabling environment, which includes the necessary incentives to attract investments. However, if the political will is not there to create this 'enabling environment', then we are in great trouble,” Varkevisser said.

The NMA will continue to advocate and engage with government and all other stakeholders to maintain its efforts of raising awareness of the need to support local manufacturers, as manufacturing has a huge positive spill-over effect to other economic sectors, he said.