Africa-Press – Namibia. Trade experts from Angola met with the Namibian business community to clarify their country’s Presidential Decree No.23/19, which was set in 2019 to protect domestic producers and products.
The decree gives priority to goods produced in Angola by requiring importers to demonstrate that they cannot find a product in the domestic market. It aims to decrease reliance on imports by increasing local production in Angola in 54 product categories.
Some Namibian businesses trading with their Angolan counterparts did not fully comprehend the decree, and faced challenges in terms of doing business in that country.
As a result, the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) facilitated the three-day engagement to seek more clarity in this regard.
NCCI chief executive officer Charity Mwiya told the media that there was a need to discuss the challenges faced by Namibian businesses who trade with Angola.
“There is a lot of uncertainty on regulations and procedures. Hence, we felt it necessary to have this type of engagement to iron out all stumbling blocks and promote more trading opportunities,” she noted.
Despite not discussing the decree in detail, Angola’s national director of foreign trade Augusta Fortes said the decree is a protection measure for its local produce.
According to her, the decree came after data showed that Angola has been importing, while the country was capable of producing on a large scale.
As a result, their local producers struggled while the markets were giving priority to imported products, mainly vegetables and fruits.
“The decree was not set up to target Namibia only, but it includes all countries with whom we do commercial exchanges, and with whom we have commercial agreements. We checked the imports against the goods that we have in the country to only import what we cannot produce at home,” she reiterated.
Namibia’s director of international trade, Patricia Liswaniso, explained during the meeting that the decree came across to the trade ministry as implying that Angola had stopped the importation of certain goods from Namibia.
Hence, they saw the need to engage Angola as some Namibians understood the procedure as a ban.
“Namibia also does the same, and we need to educate our people on the reforms some countries such as Angola are bringing,” she added.
Namibian ambassador to Angola, Patrick Nandago, said during an interview shortly after the meeting that there is no need for Namibians to panic as Angola is trying to protect its producers.
“It doesn’t mean that they have the full capacity, and the decree is seasonal. They will review and allow products to be imported if they cannot meet the demands of their market. However, we must understand that all countries are doing it to protect and encourage local production. Even Namibia does, it but it does not entirely ban the importation of products,” Nandago noted.
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