Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila: “Mauritius to automate procurement and financial management systems in Namibia”

We met Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, PM of Namibia, in the context of the African Economic Platform which took place in Mauritius recently. Among other points, she lays emphasis on the necessity for African countries to grow together as a continent.

BUSINESSMAG. What is your perception of the African Economic Platform (AEP)?

The African Economic Platform is an opportunity to address the African private sector and the academia alongside our counterparts from other African states. The goal is to promote the understanding between our governments and the African private sector which are important stakeholders in the development of the African region. We feel it is essential that there is a clear understanding of the policies other governments are putting in place in order to promote trade investments in and between our countries. It is crucial to comprehend their needs and so, to enable them to optimize their activities and economic growth. We also feel that it is vital for us, African countries, to share information from government to government.

Furthermore, the AEP’s aim is to benefit private sector companies from different African countries because, at the end of the day, the integration can only be advantageous for Africa if African private businesses can embrace each other as partners in building cross-border trading activities that ensure the creation of value chains. In that way, we will be able to grow together as a continent and the benefits of the growth of our economies shall be distributed equitably across the region. We cannot sustain growth by relying on foreign direct investment alone.

BUSINESSMAG. You mentioned the participation of the academia. To what extent can this community contribute to development on the continent?

The academia has an indispensable role to play in the development of human capacities; it can enable private businesses to be competitive through skilled workforce that can be engaged in value-added activities. With an adequately educated workforce, private companies will not only be in a position to compete with foreign businesses which come to invest in our countries but also to open up foreign markets to products from African countries by means of trade agreements.

In fact, academic institutions are quite aware of the needs of the market and can therefore provide skills in the areas where they are required. Besides, they play an important role in research and innovation; they can work together with the private sector. In consequence, we think that we should not talk about each other but to each other. We must really understand the efforts they are making. So we hope that the AEP is only the beginning and that we shall continue to engage with each other. Most importantly, we wish that concrete developments will come out of exercises like this one.

BUSINESSMAG. Do you feel that Africa’s voice is being heard on the international front?

Yes, I do think so. Our message is that we want the benefits from FDI to be more equitably shared. We want global trading and financial systems to change so that there is more equity and prosperity. This is important for our own businesses to have access to international markets and grow.

BUSINESSMAG. What about South-South cooperation?

South-South cooperation was actually the main theme of discussion at the AEP forum as today, we are focusing on the removal of trade barriers - tariff and non-tariff. The goal is to promote trade and investment amongst African countries. My opinion is that we ought to address all kinds of barriers to trade, develop infrastructures, build Pan-African industries in order to drive investments because we cannot achieve a high level of development without foreign investment. Let us create that partnership among our private businesses but let us make sure that growth is shared among us. So we should not only complain about Europe or America coming to monopolize practically all the benefits that come out. If we are in a team, we all have to feel that there is something for us; everybody must feel included equitably in terms of benefits in order to seize all opportunities among our countries.

BUSINESSMAG. How has Namibia’s economy been faring in the face of the global slowdown?

Namibia’s economy is small and open. It has high levels of imports and exports. Much of what we produce, we export. We do not have a significant industrial sector; we export mainly commodities such as agricultural and fisheries products. Coming back to your question, the global slowdown was such that there was a downturn in the commodities markets in terms of price and demand that affected our exports. This situation impacted negatively on our balance of payments, in our reserve accounts. It also affected the profitability of private businesses and the public sector. As a result, the capacity of the government to pursue very important public services programs and the development of infrastructures was definitely eroded.

To make matters worse, in Namibia, we were hit by drought for three consecutive years. Now, we are facing floods. So, besides having to diversify our economy in order to reduce our dependency on international commodities markets and shocks from the latter, we have to develop our economy’s resilience to natural disasters.

BUSINESSMAG. What does it take to be the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister in your country?

Well, I think the challenge is higher because there are increased expectations from the government after 27 years of independence. We have dedicated the first years of our independence to the achievement of peace and conciliation to ensure political and economic stability. We have managed to improve the economy by graduating to an upper middle-income country. But now, people want to have jobs, they want to get out of poverty, to have access to education, to healthcare, to resources for their businesses. These are the challenges that we have to address. To s쳮d, the government needs to be more efficient and effective.

BUSINESSMAG. How would you define the current relationship between Mauritius and Namibia?

There is an excellent relationship between our two countries. We have cooperated in a number of areas. Mauritius has done well as regards economic management. We are learning a lot from your experience in terms of capacity and institutional building, especially in the areas of economic policies and information and communications technology (ICT). We have also agreed on cooperating to increase interest interaction between the private sector in Mauritius and Namibia.

BUSINESSMAG. Is there scope for the strengthening of the partnership? Where do you see opportunities?

I think Mauritius has done well, in the ICT sector, for instance. Therefore, we are working with your country to automate our procurement and financial management systems, to modernize them. We understood that Mauritius was also proposing its help in the health sector. We are having talks with the government about that. Then, we will benefit from your country’s assistance in the energy sector and, finally, private companies from Mauritius could invest in infrastructures in Namibia.