The Economic Association of Namibia, in partnership with the GIZ, will conduct a public discussion under the theme ‘Unlocking Growth: Exploring the Challenges to Market Access and Bankability for SMEs in Namibia.’
The discussion will take place in Windhoek at a city centre hotel, but will be livestreaming on the Economic Association of Namibia’s Facebook page on 15 November from 18:00-20:00.
Despite similar discussions, initiatives and consultations over the years, Namibia’s SMEs, especially those in the far regions, are still unable to find space for their goods on the shelves of retailers, and are also unable to access loans from commercial banks, let alone find the way to the international markets.
When asked by Omutumwa whether the theme of the discussion is not merely a repetition of same discussions done over and over again during the last 33 years but without any visible changes taking place in terms of SME growth and bankability for SMEs in Namibia, Ms Antonia Dumbu-Udeh, who is the SME Development Officer at the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) said that things are changing.
“And they will change for the better,” Dumbu-Udeh said.
“This week the Mauritius Economic Board was here in Namibia, they were having conferences and so on. You know, Mauritius is almost like Namibia. Their population is the same, they are also two point something million. But currently they have quite a huge export market. They have branded themselves as an exporting and manufacturing country.
“And I asked them, how long did it take you to do this. They said it took them 65 years. Now everybody is complimenting them, everybody wanting to do business with them. But it took them 65 years.
“So, I believe with Namibia it will take us shorter because there is political will. And also our SMEs are eager to access the markets.”
In the photo: Still no market space for local SMEs in grocery retailers.
