NEEEF still being 'fine-tuned'

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) says the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF) Bill is still being fine-tuned, and at the end of this process, there will be public consultations before the bill is tabled in the National Assembly.

The bill was to have been tabled last year, but it hit a snag for a number of reasons, including over a requirement that businesses owned by previously advantaged Namibians should transfer 25% of their ownership to previously disadvantaged Namibians.

Providing an update recently, OPM spokesperson Saima Shaanika said various technical committees were now scrutinising the bill.

“The technical committees assisting with the review of the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework are currently busy with the review process internally.

“When the policy issues are sorted out, will we undertake a final round of public consultations and finalise the drafting process after which the bill will be tabled in parliament. The plan is to have the bill tabled this year,” said Shaanika. Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila told Nampa last year that it was better for government to take more time with the contentious bill. “When you have an issue that is difficult, where you have different views, it is important to take everyone along. And when you do that, sometimes there are costs that you have to bear, and in this particular case, the cost that we are incurring is the cost of timeliness,” said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. Consultations around the bill were concluded and a report was submitted to cabinet for approval and input.

“(But) when the report came to cabinet, there were some more inputs and cabinet decided that a technical committee looks at it again,” the prime minister said last year. Simonis Storm, in its fixed income report for the first quarter of 2019, suggested that government remove policy uncertainties around NEEEF to try and win back investors and investor confidence.

President Hage Geingob said in a cabinet address last year that the 25% ownership pillar should be done away with.

“The 25% equity stake will not translate into broad-based empowerment and is done away with,” he said.

“Most Namibians, especially the previously disadvantaged, do not have enough resources to invest in empowerment transactions, nor are they able to obtain access to funding to participate in such transactions.”