Namdeb survives to learn from recession

By: DENVER KISTING

NAMDEB is rising from the ashes of its N$414 million loss in 2009 and is hoping to shine until at least 2050.

So said its managing director (MD), Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi, in Windhoek yesterday.

Zaamwani-Kamwi said: “We have gone through a very difficult time last year, but survived to tell the story.”

This came after diamond sales revenue was 40 per cent less in 2009 than in 2008 as a result of the global economic pinch.

According to the MD, the crisis was addressed by “rapid management response” as well as “cash preserving [by means of a] production shutdown”.

Zaamwani-Kamwi also refuted claims that Namdeb is run by expatriates. According to her, the company only has 20 foreigners in its employment at the moment – less than 2 per cent of its 1 663 staff complement.

Of the 20 foreigners, ten are South Africans, eight are Zimbabweans, one is from Ghana and one from Zambia, she said.

When the company’s mining licence expires in 2020, it will apply for a licence to mine until at least 2050, the MD said.

Following the devastating global economic crunch, Namdeb had a N$11 million overdraft at December 31 last year.

In the 2009 annual review, Zaamwani-Kamwi admitted that the economic crisis had caught the company with its pants down. 

She said: “During the early stages of the recession, not all key players were aligned on the magnitude of such an event on the socio-economic fabric of the nation. This resulted in a period of limbo for the business, compounding the uncertainty about the future of Namdeb.”

She said Namdeb had definitely learnt its lesson. 

“The global financial crisis provided a unique opportunity for us to participate in shaping a new world economic order through the measures we took to redesign and refocus our outlook and approach. The pre-September 2008 world economic order focused much on consumerism and greed.”

She emphasised that the company “will continue to take a cautious and prudent approach to production and sales levels for 2010. It is expected that consumer demand for diamond jewellery will be driven in part by the strength of the developing markets of China and India”.

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