Following the announcement of the recent sale of its Nordic business to Skandia Liv, Old Mutual has announced a total dividend pay-out of N$69 million to Namibian shareholders, which include policyholders, BEE partners and Old Mutual staff.

The final ordinary dividend pay-out for 2011 is 43.04 cents, well up on the final dividend of 31.51c and 17.32c declared for the years 2010 and 2009, respectively. “This year’s Special Dividend, on top of the solid ordinary dividend pay-out, presents Old Mutual with a great opportunity to deliver extra value back to its shareholders, genuinely assisting Namibian shareholders to best achieve their life-time financial goals,” says Sakaria Nghikembua, CEO of operations. Total Old Mutual dividend pay-out to Namibian shareholders in June 2012 is N$2.64 per share held. Meanwhile this week, Johannes !Gawaxab, MD: Africa Operations Old Mutual, said that, “too many public enterprises fall far short of making their rightful contribution on account of a multiplicity of factors.” Speaking at the Public Enterprise Management for Financial Viability Conference in Windhoek !Gawaxab called for, “a commitment to re-shaping and improving finance management in public enterprises in Namibia, firstly by shifting performance of public enterprises, and secondly by attempting to engineer a horizon shift to prepare the country for long-term success.”
He noted that Namibia’s economy has developed, its society is changing and its aspirations have evolved, and in this context public finance management cannot be seen to be static. Improving Namibia’s competitiveness will require strengthening public enterprises, improving public finance management, ensuring that sound monetary and fiscal policies are implemented, that strong human development is facilitated and that adherence to the rule of law is enforced, he said. 
The financial performance of SOEs since 2001 has been disappointing in most instances, with government expenditure and lending to SOEs growing by leaps and bounds. This appears unsustainable, he said. 
He advised that we need a better understanding and application of the State-Owned Enterprise Governance Act 2 of 2006, saying that accountability and leadership by experienced and qualified directors and CEOs should enable the setting of appropriate performance indicators and measuring of performance of public enterprises.
Politically motivated appointments may adversely impact strategy execution, policy-making and the fulfilment of these enterprises’ mandates. Ideally, Public Enterprise Boards, in accordance with best practice, should be the centre of corporate governance, he said.
In his concluding remarks, !Gawaxab reiterated the need for a governance culture aligned with best practices and consistent with the shareholders’ mandate. He called on boards to take up oversight responsibility with new vigour; that the capability of public enterprises be enhanced through stronger cooperation with tertiary education institutions and that a clearly defined funding framework be implemented, which anticipates and provides for the capitalisation of entities that require financial assistance.
“We need to use the power of the state to unlock the dynamism of the market,” said !Gawaxab.