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Nawa 42 |
Mar 15 2006 |
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FUNDING TO SMEs ENDS: BUT SUPPORT CONTINUES …
 The USAID-funded SMEs Compete program ended on February 28, 2006. After a slow start, the project became increasingly effective over the past four years, creating over 564 new jobs, providing over 2,386 SMEs with technical assistance, and training 10,764 employees. The program, implemented by Sigma One Corporation in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, assisted "client"SMEs to complete 283 new business transactions worth over 3 million US dollars.
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Targeting small firms owned by historically disadvantaged Namibians, core areas of the program included the expansion of market access, SME participation in trade fairs, the development of market linkages, mentoring, and the development of business and marketing plans. Entrepreneurs in targeted industry sectors such as tourism, building construction, apparel and textiles, leather goods manufacturing and woodwork, have been helped to improve business performance and to become part of Namibia’s mainstream economy. More than 20 SMEs benefited from international exposure by participating at international trade promotion events in Angola, South Africa, the U.S.A. and Germany.
The corporate mentorship program has helped scores of entrepreneurs. Using the skills of volunteer business leaders, the program provided SMEs with techniques to diagnose business performance and constraints that will help them to develop remedial strategies and position their enterprises for growth.
The program also provided grants to 32 business support organizations to increase their capacity to provide technical and, in the case of several banking institutions, financial support specifically targeted for the SME sector.
The USAID-funded program comes to a close having institutionalized a Namibian SME support organization. SMEs Compete, once the name of a project is now the name of a registered Namibian NGO. SMEs Compete has established a name and a niche and in so doing has attracted the attention of other donors and the Namibian private sector. Support from these new partners ensures that SMEs will continue to receive quality services to facilitate their continued growth. |
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PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE VISITS CONSERVANCIES
 The Namibian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics, Natural Resources and Public Accounts, responsible for reviewing and making recommendations to Parliament on bills relating to economic development, natural resources management and financial accountability, recently undertook a trip to conservancies in the Kunene Region with support from USAID Namibia`s CBNRM and Democracy and Governance programs and local private sector partners.
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Six committee members, led by chairman Hage Geingob, the first Prime Minister of Namibia, were received by representatives at the Uibasen, Doro !Nawas and #Khoadi //Hoas conservancies. They provided an overview of the history of their conservancies and briefed the parliamentarians on previous achievements and the challenges facing their communities.
The delegation was very impressed with the concept of conservancies as such and the potential for replication. Key features that serve as models for other rural communities include the democratic governance structures and the resultant empowerment for sustainable development. They congratulated the conservancy leaders on contributing positively towards the upliftment of their people and urged them to remain focussed on having a vision in line with GRN policies and objectives. The parliamentarians also applauded the generally good cooperation and harmony that existed between private sector lodges and local inhabitants around joint ventures and urged them to not jeopardise these relationships through unnecessary conflicts. They encouraged all parties to maintain and strengthen such partnerships and to continue caring for the environment. |
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ENSURING OVC CAN GO TO SCHOOL, STAY IN SCHOOL AND DO WELL IN SCHOOL
 A new initiative to assist orphans and other vulnerable children in northern Namibia was jointly launched by Honorable Nangolo Mbumba, Minister of Education, and United States Ambassador to Namibia, Joyce Barr on March 11, 2006. In attendance were local and regional government officials; young learners, their teachers and caregivers; community groups and schools receiving grants; and personnel from a variety of public, faith-based, and non-governmental organizations working in the north to help children in need.
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The driving principle behind the new program is that the growing number of children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic have a special need for a quality education given the special challenges they face. The program targets schools in the six northern regions which have the highest proportion of vulnerable children. Grants are intended to help remove barriers to a quality basic education faced by vulnerable children. Grant support can therefore be used to help meet the costs of food, school uniforms, shoes, basic toiletries, textbooks, school supplies, psychosocial support, mentoring, tutoring, relief teachers, or selected costs of accessing government welfare grants and social services.
The initial set of grants are being awarded to eleven schools and community groups which support them and will meet selected educational needs of 3,345 vulnerable children. A total of N$528,000 in funding has been approved and will be disbursed to successful applicants in March 2006. An additional N$1,375,000 will be awarded during the second half of 2006.
Minister Mbumba, in thanking the USG for their generous support to the orphans and vulnerable children of Namibia said: "It is heartening to see and hear that, while others are scaling down their assistance to Namibia, the US government has over time increased its support considerably."
In her address, Ambassador Barr said: "We are encouraged by the growing coalition of Namibians and friends of Namibia who are actively working to provide support to vulnerable children. With help from their government, family, school, church, and friends, these children will receive the care and the education they need to become productive, independent citizens of this young nation, and to someday become caring mothers and fathers themselves." |
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