WINDHOEK, June 29 (Reuters) – Namibian President Hage Geingob on Tuesday appointed an 11-member Business Rescue Task Force to review business and insolvency legislation with the aim of rescuing businesses in financial distress.
The Southern African nation, whose mining and tourism dependent economy has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, is in the midst of a deadly third wave of infections that is threatening to take more businesses under.
The task force, which consists of individuals with skills and experience in corporate management, banking, legal and insolvency laws, legal drafting and entrepreneurship, will start work on July 1 for a period of eight months, the president’s office said.
It will also recommend policy options, approaches and amendments to specific laws and regulations required to strengthen entrepreneurship.
Business rescue is a local form of bankruptcy protection.
“Covid-19 has led to adverse socio-economic impacts and untold losses for businesses, which were largely unanticipated,” Geingob said.
“Therefore, I expect the members of this Task Force to ensure the efficient and effective rescue and recovery of businesses in financial distress, preserving jobs and entrenching a stronger entrepreneurial culture in the country.”
Debt-laden Air Namibia, which had been struggling even before COVID-19, was placed into voluntary liquidation this year. Meanwhile Namibia’s oldest department store announced it would close its doors after operating for 129 years.
Small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism and hospitality sectors are also buckling under pressure due restrictions.
Namibia’s economy contracted by 6.5% in the first quarter of this year, plunging deeper into recession. (Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
