A 14-member delegation of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) met with Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab on Wednesday to discuss land expropriation, poverty eradication, independence of the judiciary and relevant issues. While asking the government to keep the affects of land expropriation "as minimal as possible" on those people affected by it, the CCN, led by Anglican Bishop Shihala Hamupembe requested Government to draft a "formal policy on national reconciliation." It was felt necessary, Reverend Nangula Kathindi said during the meeting, to have a formal reconciliation policy and guidelines to allow Namibians to "facilitate ownership" of the reconciliatory process.

From this official and public request, it can be deducted that the churches in Namibia are not happy with the present situation of national reconciliation. Although no CCN member was available for comment afterwards due to internal meetings for the rest of the day, the recent press releases by the CCN this year indicate its concerns about human relations among Namibians.

The Namibian government is busy preparing a national policy on black economic empowerment (BEE) based on wide-ranged consultations and input. Speaking at a business breakfast Wednesday organised by the Namibia Economic Society, Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said his office was busy consulting on the content of a BEE policy with various stakeholders.

"We will, when we are ready update Cabinet and Parliament and will also conduct consultative road shows with as many stakeholders, opinion-makers and grassroots activists as possible and soon announce a timetable for consultations", Gurirab told the 150 business people. The draft policy will have to be adopted by Cabinet and the Parliament must vote on the policy to become an Act of Law. Black economic empowerment would not be a "self-enrichment crusade for a few black fat cats." the Prime Minister added. BEE must and could serve as a catalyst for helping a critical mass of black middle class. Cabinet in March this year approved a ministerial committee on BEE to be set up and that the Prime Minister’s office should prepare a draft.

Namibia plans to clamp down on fruit and vegetable imports to boost local producers, the Namibia Agronomic Board announced on Tuesday. Wholesalers and importers of horticultural products have to first buy 3 percent of their supplies in Namibia before being allowed to import the other 97%. The new restriction will apply from 1 October, 2004." The objective of the Namibian Horticulture Market Share Promotion is to encourage importers of fresh fruit and vegetables to source these products locally as far as possible thus promoting local production," Christof Brock, CEO of the NAB said during a media briefing. According to information gathered, imports of fresh fruit and vegetables amount to about N$ 160 million per year. "Although some importers are sourcing locally, unfortunately the majority do not make special efforts to procure fresh fruit and vegetables. Regulations will have to be adopted to encourage local sourcing, providing a larger market share to local producers", according to Brock. From October, onwards importing companies must also provide the NAB with returns on amounts of horticulture products bought within Namibia and outside its borders. The 3% target is to gradually increase over the next 5 to 7 years to 50% of locally procured fruit and vegetables. Currently Namibian growers sell 15 percent of the supply needs.

This is the second step undertaken by Namibia to stimulate local food production and to become less dependent on imports. In 2002, the government introduced a horticulture levy of 1,2% on all food and vegetable imports, which mainly come from South Africa. Companies importing horticultural products also had to get import permits.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed a representative from the Bank of Namibia to serve on a committee of experts to be known as the Balance of Payments Technical Experts Group (BOPTEG). Mr Ipumbu Shiimi, the Head of Research at the BoN, is representing Namibia on this committee.

It comprises of members drawn from the few selected countries worldwide and is entrusted with revising the current international Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5, 1993). The BPM5 defines the international standards for the compilation of statistics on transactions between a country’s residents and their non-resident counterparts.

The committee will also play an advisory role to the IMF by providing recommendations for review and approval on issues affecting the methodology on the balance of payment and related matters.

Namibia’s appointment to this committee was done in recognition of the country’s commendable progress in adopting the international best practices in the compilation and dissemination of its macroeconomic statistics, particularly in the areas of balance of payments and monetary statistics. So far, Namibia is the only country in SADC, which has implemented the latest manual on monetary and financial statistics.

Other countries and institutions represented on this committee include the Australian Central Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Chile, State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China, Bank of Estonia, Deutsche Bundesbank, Bank of Japan, Central Bank of Jordan, De Nederlandsche Bank, National Bank of Poland, Bank of Thailand, Office of National Statistics UK, USA Bureau of Economic Analysis and USA Federal Reserve Bank (FED), European Central Bank (ECB), European Statistics Office (Eurostat), Bank of International Settlements (BIS) and Banque Centrale des Etas de l’Africa de I’Ouset (BCEAO).