Think tank doubts NIPDB’s investment returns after N$700m spend

Not enough
Ogone Tlhage
  • 1 Day Ago
The Institute for Public Policy and Research (IPPR) has questioned whether the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board’s (NIPDB) N$700 million funding allocation has delivered meaningful returns, following the government’s decision to downgrade it to a department within the Ministry of International Relations and Trade.

Reviewing the NIPDB’s performance, the IPPR argued that success should not be measured by the agency’s budget or project pipeline, but by the provision of policy certainty to attract long-term investment.

“The NIPDB has published three reports on its activities (for 2022, 2023 and 2024). The latest highlights a project pipeline of N$174.86 billion, of which N$117.91 billion were leads, N$32.27 billion had reached a final investment decision (FID), N$24.68 billion had seen capital deployed, and N$2.89 billion had reached operationalisation,” the IPPR said.

However, the institute noted that private sector investment outside mining, oil and gas has continued to decline despite the NIPDB’s establishment. “The question that needs to be asked is why has it been on a long-term decline? That does not seem to be a question the NIPDB has addressed,” the IPPR said, adding that the trend may even have accelerated under the Board.

The IPPR also criticised the lack of progress in improving Namibia’s competitiveness rankings, pointing out that the country’s first appearance in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking placed it 68th out of 69 countries - just above Venezuela. “Namibia never made a serious effort to improve its score,” the institute said, despite the NIPDB being the partner organisation for the IMD index.

The think tank argued that the need for an institution like the NIPDB exists largely because of unclear regulations and cumbersome bureaucracy. “If regulations were clear and bureaucratic systems worked effectively, all that would be required is a list of steps for investors to follow. The more complex and opaque the requirements, the greater the need for an NIPDB to guide investors,” it said.

To improve Namibia’s attractiveness, the IPPR urged the government to focus on “improving the product” - addressing core issues rather than relying on promotional efforts. These include establishing a competitive tax regime, guaranteeing property rights, preventing arbitrary nationalisation, ensuring clear dispute resolution, enabling profit repatriation and skilled labour entry, facilitating land access, and streamlining bureaucratic procedures.