adminWINDHOEK. – THE Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) has warned against the increasing import bill in Namibia which has now reached R60 billion.
President of the NCCI, Martha Namudjebo-Tilahun, said the continued importation of goods particularly from South Africa and China is stifling local industrial growth.
“We have made effort to engage with the government to cut down on unnecessary imports because these are killing the local industry. “We need the government to start complying with the procurement laws of the country. How do we expect our own businesses when we continue importing the bulk of the goods we consume locally,” Tilahun said while addressing a media briefing.
She argues that the NCCI needed to come up with a mechanism that will also promote local product exports.
“We are here and we are not even allowed to send our raw materials to China and other countries but these are the same countries that have access to our market,” she said.
Namibia’s import bill has steadily grown in the past four years, a move that the NCCI argue has been counterproductive to drive the local empowerment drive.
Namibia is a net importing economy which gets most of its consumable and basics from South Africa since independence and has struggled to build local industry that will sustain local needs of its 2,1 million people. – CAJ News.
Online Reporter