MOST of Namibia’s trade and bilateral agreements are not benefiting the business community in the country as they do not have clarity on their content.

The Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chief Executive Officer, Tarah Shaanika said it was difficult for the country’s business community to invest in other countries because of the access capital needed in such ventures.
Shaanika revealed that the trade deals between Namibia and the international community are only the pathway set but need to be pursued to accrue any benefits to the locals.
He said Namibian business people do not have the capacity to invest in other countries despite existing bilateral and trade deals because they are incapacitated in both resources and funds.
He added that despite some bilateral and trade agreements between Namibia and the international community creating  the  platform needed by business people to expand their operations abroad, most Namibian businesspeople are continuously tied down by a lack of resources.
The NCCI recently questioned the influx of Chinese business people in Namibia castigating them for investing in less challenging sectors and shipping sub-standard goods into the country instead of targeting real investment sectors like agriculture and manufacturing.
However the NCCI chief said some bilateral deals have materialised mentioning the continued growth in trade and co-operation among southern African countries as encouraging.
The scare of Namibian business people failing to  benefit from the bilateral and trade deals between the country and the international community come in the wake of Namibia  being involved in agreements with countries like India, Zimbabwe, South Africa among many.
However these trade deals continue to see an influx of international investors coming to the country but the Namibian business community has not been able to exploit the reverse gains of expanding their businesses in these countries.
The director of International trade in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Annascy Mwenyangapo declined to comment on the issues despite being forwarded questions a week and a half in advance.
“I have my own deadlines and I cannot shift them to suit you. I am not able to attend to your concerns because  it is not  a priority,” said Mwenyangapo when contacted for comment.
The Southern African Development Community department of Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment Director Boitumelo Gofhamodi said it is very difficult to asses the success of trade and bilateral agreements of member states.
“The implementation of these deals is governed by the provisions agreed to by the parties involved. and in most cases the SADC secretariat are kept out of the picture from these deals,” said Gofhamodi.
She added that SADC countries did not have common policies on which trade deals they could engage in making it difficult for the secretariat to analyse the trade deals.
She said there had been a reasonable level of success in the region in terms of promoting co-operation on trade and development but the region was still to say the same for business deals with the other parts of the world.
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