Africa-Press – Namibia. PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has advised entrepreneurs to be more innovative amid the current fiscal challenges the country is faced with.
“It’s extremely hard to find money for anything. The ambassadors overseas are complaining they don’t have people. Defence wants more money, education wants more money, and the union wants a pay rise. It’s tough all around,” he said during the launch of the Walvis Bay Fishing School and Fishing School magazine at Walvis Bay on Saturday.
The school will offer maritime training.
Mnyupe shared insights, opportunities, and prospects for the local maritime industry – especially now that Namibia is part of the 14-nation high-level panel on the sustainability of oceans.
“There are no more tenders. The government doesn’t have revenue,” he said.
Mnyupe said revenue collection by the government has dropped as a result of the reduction of people’s movements due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Because of declining economic activity Mnyupe said, entrepreneurs would have to share more space with foreign investors.
He emphasised the need to embark on a collective reimaging journey guided by big-picture thinking, insight gathering, and combining efforts and resources between private and public sector players.
“If you look at how hard people hustle in Nigeria, India, and Kenya, I think in Namibia we are really kind of fairly spoiled and sheltered. There is no substitute for hard work, and there is no substitute for collaboration.
“The government’s hands are tied. The way we do this is to work together,” he said.
Mnyupe said part of his duty is to link local companies up with international companies to facilitate investment.
COLLABORATING WITH FOREIGN INVESTORS
The Walvis Bay Fishing School is the brainchild of former Walvis Bay Urban constituency councillor Knowledge Ipinge, fishing technology expert Harold Davis, and Class 3 maritime officer Francois Botha.
Ipinge said the school will offer innovative and diverse technical vocational education and training to prepare Walvis Bay and Namibia for continued growth and employment creation.
The school will be collaborating with international companies specialising in marine technology, such as Dove Air, Archipelago Marine Research Ltd, and Wärtsilä Corporation.
“We have adopted an asset-light business model, mainly informed by the global economic chaos as a result of Covid-19. Our approach is to reduce operational costs, streamline operations, and target untapped customer segments through providing a complete smart marine ecosystem of navigational, communication, engineering, fishing, and offshore training solutions,” Davis says.
MTC commercial officer Melvin Angula, who was the guest of honour at the event, guaranteed MTC’s commitment to the maritime industry.
“We have the most unique fishing ecosystem in the world . . . We want to assist in building that,” he said.
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