SOEs keep public in the dark

Jo-Maré Duddy – Of the 21 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Namibia, only nine have shown a profit, while only eight paid tax and a mere five paid dividends.Full annual reports of only 12 have been public, of which only two – Meatco and NamPower – have so far published full annual reports for 2018/19. For eight of the SOEs, no information whatsoever is publically available, the Institute of Public Policy Research’s (IPPR) latest report on SOEs shows.The IPPR Public Enterprise Annual Rankings for 2020 places NamPower, with an overall score of 99 out of a possible 100, as Namibia’s leading SOE. The Roads Contractor Company (RCC) and Zambezi Waterfront are at the bottom of the list, both scoring zero.The rankings are based on information that is available to the general public either online, in published annual reports, in public documents provided by the office of the auditor general or the ministry of finance, or in the local media.Only nine SOEs managed to score 50 or more points.Top vs bottomThe IPPR says NamPower “is now a well-run genuinely commercial operation contributing to the fiscus and investing for the future while providing plenty of information to the public”.In stark contrast, the IPPR’s comment about the RCC is: “The company may have been thrown a lifeline through the sale of its headquarters to Namibia Post and Telecom Holdings (NPTH) but it must surely be a question of time before it is finally put out of its misery.”About the Zambezi Waterfront, the IPPR says: “Very little information is available on the Zambezi Waterfront but the issue of missing money does not appear to have been resolved.”TransparencyThe public is completely in the dark about the performance of following SOEs as no information is available: Air Namibia, TransNamib, Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), RCC, Offshore Development Company (ODC), Epangelo Mining Company, Henties Bay Waterfront and the Zambezi Waterfront.Nothing on the Lüderitz Waterfront is available as the company’s website is outdated, the IPPR says.Full annual reports for 2017/18 are available for MTC, NamPost and NamPort. The latest public information on National Fishing Corporation (Fishcor), Namcor, Roads Authority and Telecom Namibia dates back to the SOEs’ 2016/17 annual reports.The only public information on the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) is reports by the auditor general from 2014 to 2017.The last full annual report of the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) was released in 2015/16, while the last annual report published by TransNamib dates back to 2013.According to the IPPR, allegations of mismanagement or corruption have been investigated at nine SOEs.A full report on the IPPR’s findings will be published in Business7 on Wednesday.jo-mare@republikein.com.na

SOEs keep public in the dark

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Republikein 2025-09-19

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SOEs keep public in the dark

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