MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH DEVELOPMENT BANK OF NAMIBIA

At a signing ceremony held at the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) Offices in Windhoek, the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate with its fellow Development Financing Institution (DFI).

Speaking at the ceremony, the CEDA CEO Mr Thabo Thamane said that the MoU is a good example of the cordial relationship between the two institutions. The MoU will set the tone for future business initiatives and will guide many others in strengthening the capacity for both institutions, “Both entities will benefit from each other over the next five years and many more after that, due to both DFI’s being so young, they can learn from one another and develop in many industries they are involved in”.  For his part the DBN CEO, Martin Inkumbi expressed his pleasure in the agreement that both institutions are entering into, “DBN and CEDA have many similarities in their mandate and also their business practices, it is important that both DBN and CEDA capitalise on each other’s strengths and make a substantial impact on the socio-economic development of both countries”.

DBN was established to contribute to the economic growth and social development of Namibia, and to promote the welfare of Namibians in a sustainable way as per the Namibian Government’s National Development Plans and Vision 2030.

Similarly CEDA was established by the Government of the Republic of Botswana to provide financial and technical support for business development with a view to promote viable and sustainable citizen owned business enterprises.

The purpose of the MOU was to formalise strategic alliances for the two DFI’s. The institutions would be able to tap into each other’s resources and maximise on their respective service deliveries in their countries of operation and in the SADC region. The key objectives of the MoU are knowledge transfer as well as sharing information on matters such as business sustainability, developmental impact and equity investment.

CEDA, CEO Thabo Thamane went on to say that it was important to note that this was not CEDA’s first MoU. “CEDA has signed similar MoU’s with other DFI’s in the region and in Botswana, to name a few Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa and other DFI’s in Botswana”. Similarly DBN has also benefitted from other partnerships it has in the region.

Both Ikumbi and Thamane expressed their belief in ensuring that the objectives of the MoU are delivered on and both institutions bring about a great deal of ventures and initiatives for the benefit of Namibia and Botswana as per their mandates.