NCCI celebrates 15 years of service
NCCI celebrates 15
years of service
After 15 years in operation, the chamber will
hopefully remain focused on what it intends to do in future, the president of
the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), Inge Zaamwani, said in a
speech last week during the annual general meeting held in Windhoek.?I must
emphasise that our challenges, opportunities and priorities have changed
significantly from those that we faced 15 years ago. It is therefore time to
review ourselves as an organization and redefine our role in line with new
challenges and priorities,? said Zaamwani.The board of directors of the NCCI met
recently to devise strategies on how to carry out a review process.Zaamwani said
the success of the organization would depend on the success of its members and
the private sector at large. She added that this would in turn be influenced by
the general performance of the economy.?During the year under review at this
annual general meeting, the Namibian economy performed relatively well, reaching
an estimated annual growth rate of 4.4%. In line with world GDP growth, the
Namibian economy is likely, however, to stabilize at 3.8% for 2005,? said the
NCCI president.Growth in 2004 was driven largely by an improvement in the
primary sector, particularly the mining sector. The sector?s value added for the
year 2004 increased significantly by 32.3% compared to a negative growth of 4.6%
recorded in 2003. The significant increase in the performance of this sector has
been due to a strong demand for diamonds in the world market and the resumption,
in 2004, of the activities of one diamond company, SAMICOR, which became a
member of the NCCI early this year. The output of the diamond industry is
estimated to have increased by 34.7% in 2004 compared to a decrease of 4.6 %
recorded in 2003. The output of other minerals such as copper, zinc and silver
also showed an expansion, mainly due to the improvement in the prices of basic
metals and increased zinc production from the Scorpion Zinc Mine.?Despite a
positive overall GDP growth, the significant negative impact on the sectors of
the economy during the year under review was the fishing sector. During 2004,
the fishing sector output value dropped considerably to -9.6%. This represents a
dismal performance compared to a growth of 3.8% recorded in 2003. This is mainly
due to the strong Namibia Dollar, low fish catches, high fuel prices and
operating costs.?The NCCI is, however, hopeful that the attempts that are
currently being made to sustain this very important sector of our economy will
be successful in reducing losses and job cuts,? said Zaamwani.She said Namibia
might find it difficult to realise the goals of Vision 2030 if we lose focus on
growing our economy to at least 9% per annum until year 2030 and the Government,
private sector, labour and other stakeholders do not work as a team.?We must
tackle the challenges facing us today, including HIV/AIDS, high unemployment,
acute poverty, shortage of skills in our economy and low economic growth, with
courage and determination so that we can overcome these challenges,? she
said.The NCCI president said although the economy has been showing good signs
with an average growth of about 3,5% over the past five years, challenges that
have been hounding the country for a long time remain. The problems include
unemployment, which remains high at an unacceptable figure of 38%.?HIV/AIDS is
prevalent and crippling the economy and the social fabric of our society.
Economic growth remains lower than the required level of growth that can make a
significant dent in unemployment and wealth-creation. Our skill base continues
to be weak, while the participation of the majority in the mainstream of the
economy is marginal or hardly existent,? said Zaamwani.