Winners for the debating challenge 2021

Monique Adams University of Namibia vs Namibia University of Science and Technology The first motion was: “Has the central bank’s monetary policy stance and other additional policy measures been effective since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic? What has been the evidence thus far and lessons learnt?”The University of Namibia (Unam) was the overall winner of the first-ever Bank of Namibia (BON) tertiary institutions’ debating challenge.It was hosted in support of the country’s financial literacy initiative, the recognised need for education and the central bank’s role in the economy.This competition gave students the opportunity to engage on relevant topics in banking. With this, they will develop and sharpen their research, critical thinking, financial and economic skills.They also gained experience on the ability to work as a team to present logical arguments, while presenting alternative and innovative ideas to policy-makers.The judging panel consisted of adjudicators from BON as well as an external adjudicator, who declared Unam as the winning team, scooping the cash prize of N$10 000. Nust received N$5 000.Nchimunya Mweeta, a fourth-year student from Unam, received the best speaker award, walking away with a cash prize of N$2 500.The Unam team had very limited time for preparation, Mweeta said.“We spent our time looking through BON statements as well as other relevant sources like Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) and World Bank, just to mention a few. We also only got time to meet twice for a face-to-face practice,” she said.She reflects on winning the best speaker award, adding that she did not expect it. “I believe the judges actually listened to what I was saying and the evidence I presented to back up my argument. Also being the only woman on the team, making my contribution to the win and team even more recognised,” she said.Mweeta was overjoyed when Unam was announced the winner because their time spent preparing paid off. She is proud of herself and her team because it was a well-deserved win, even though the Nust team gave more of an economic report on the performance of the Namibian economy.“I hope we have set a great foundation for the Unam debating team to be reborn. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to witness it first-hand as this my final year at Unam. I believe our win has motivated a significant amount of people to follow in our footsteps,” she said.

Winners for the debating challenge 2021

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-10

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Winners for the debating challenge 2021

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-10

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