By Joshua Kanuku
EENHANA, May 18 – Know2Grow, an initiative of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), held its regional knowledge dissemination and capacity building initiative for Ohangwena at Eenhana on Tuesday.
Focusing on financing and market access, the event took place with the theme: ‘Accelerating MSMEs’ and was attended by various business support organisations, from both the public and private sector, together with the Ohangwena business community.
The aim of this initiative is to engage and network with the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) MSMEs within the region unlock and facilitate opportunities enabling a better quality of life for all Namibians, but also improving Namibia’s ease of doing business.
Lack of knowledge and business understanding is one of the key problems faced by the business community and perhaps also one of the key functions that triggered the initiative to address issues facing the MSMEs and equip them with better business knowledge.
Speaking at the event, Development Bank of Namibia regional manager, Fillemon Nditya, emphasised the bank’s financing opportunities, particularly to young entrepreneurs under their skills-based finance programme.
‘’The bank lends to larger enterprises and also lends money to SMEs, as well as to what we call infrastructural development for contractors who come for funding, and we also have a product that is specifically designed to finance youth based on their skills called a skills-based finance,’’ he said.
Speaking via virtual presentation, Standard Bank’s SME manager, Laetitia Damens, also gave a brief lesson on products offered by Standard Bank that are available and of use by the business community, and also types of loans that are available for business purposes and also their requirements.
“No business prospers without the necessary knowledge. It is therefore of vital importance that education and entrepreneurship be a part and parcel of every business to avoid financial mismanagement and allow for financial literacy,” said, Leonardo Chipendo, HOD business sciences at Intellectus Campus.
“People sometimes lack the skill sets to transact and speak the business language that is understood by institutions that are to provide the necessary assistance such as banks, they, therefore, have to find knowledge to advance themselves in their businesses such as the writing of business plans,’’ he said.
He further encouraged the business community to take up courses relating to business in order to equip them with the right knowledge to run their businesses successfully.
Know2Grow is a nationwide initiative of the NIPDB, which is a government-owned institution under the Office of the President and is to take place in all the regions. Namibia Daily News
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