THE secretariat of the long-awaited State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Governance Council is now up and running, while regulations for the implementation of the relevant law on SOEs are being finalised, Prime Minister Nahas Angula said on Thursday.
‘More permanent staff is being recruited for the secretariat. In addition, a comprehensive study is underway to establish benchmarks for remuneration packages of the different types of SOE executives. The Secretariat of the SOE Governance Council is further considering a study on how best to align the investment programmes of SOEs with the development goals of the National Development Plan (NDP3),’ the Prime Minister told Parliament.
Speaking during the budget debate, which ended on Thursday, Angula added that SOEs are part and parcel of the Government investment programme.
‘The absence of their investment [plans] in the National Budget documents is regrettable and in my view these should be reflected in the Budget in future. SOEs should play a critical role in national development and Namibia should leverage them as agents for growth and development,’ Angula said.
‘I fully agree with Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila that SOEs should subject themselves to international credit ratings so as to determine their creditworthiness.’
Namibia’s electricity utility NamPower was the first SOE to receive an international credit rating from the Fitch agency about two years ago.
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