Govt says it plans to speed up business registration

THE Minister of Trade and Industry, Immanuel Ngatjizeko, has pledged to ease the process of starting a new business in Namibia.

This follows complaints by local and foreign investors that the process is cumbersome and the Registrar of Trade’s office disorganised, with large volumes of files not computerised. Last year Namibia slid down the ladder in its competitive ranking because of the conditions for doing business here.Ngatjizeko told the National Assembly yesterday that he was aware of the persistent delays in the process of registering companies and close corporations because the law required the involvement of legal and auditing firms in this process.In future, the registration of a close corporation will only take a day if all the required papers are presented, while the registration of a company will take ten days from the day of submitting the correct documents at the registry office.Last year, a study commissioned by the Minister of Trade supported complaints about the functions of various institutions responsible for facilitating business activities.These included central Government agencies, regional and local authorities, utilities, private service providers and the general work ethic and attitudes prevalent in the country.A committee is now working to address these problems and a public sensitisation process is expected to follow.The Minister said he had ordered the computerisation of business registration in the hope of reducing the time needed to register a business, and to make the use of lawyers and accountants optional instead of compulsory.The new Companies Act of 2004 is yet to come into effect.Ngatjizeko told MPs that his Ministry had put important documents, including the Companies Act of 2004 and a booklet on how to register a business in Namibia, on its website as part of efforts to facilitate starting up businesses.Last year Namibia slid down the ladder in its competitive ranking because of the conditions for doing business here.Ngatjizeko told the National Assembly yesterday that he was aware of the persistent delays in the process of registering companies and close corporations because the law required the involvement of legal and auditing firms in this process.In future, the registration of a close corporation will only take a day if all the required papers are presented, while the registration of a company will take ten days from the day of submitting the correct documents at the registry office.Last year, a study commissioned by the Minister of Trade supported complaints about the functions of various institutions responsible for facilitating business activities.These included central Government agencies, regional and local authorities, utilities, private service providers and the general work ethic and attitudes prevalent in the country.A committee is now working to address these problems and a public sensitisation process is expected to follow.The Minister said he had ordered the computerisation of business registration in the hope of reducing the time needed to register a business, and to make the use of lawyers and accountants optional instead of compulsory.The new Companies Act of 2004 is yet to come into effect.Ngatjizeko told MPs that his Ministry had put important documents, including the Companies Act of 2004 and a booklet on how to register a business in Namibia, on its website as part of efforts to facilitate starting up businesses.