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The Minister of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) Lucia Iipumbu stated that there is a need to come up with modern business laws critical for Namibia’s economic growth. Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA), together with MIT, working to reform the legislative framework for business entities in Namibia assessed that Namibia’s business laws are out-of-date and non-responsive to the current needs of the economy.
The Minister of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) Lucia Iipumbu stated that there is a need to come up with modern business laws critical for Namibia’s economic growth. Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA), together with MIT, working to reform the legislative framework for business entities in Namibia assed that Namibia’s business laws are out-of-date and non-responsive to the current needs of the economy. Namibia has not done well on the ease of doing business ranking because of a number of issues, including the length of time it takes to establish a firm. Registering a business with BIPA takes between seven and 14 days, but the same process in countries like South Africa, Botswana, and Rwanda takes less than 24 hours.
The Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade together with its various stakeholders and partners has done various assessments of the Namibian economy and engaged the business fraternity at length over the past 3-4 years. It is pertinent that the Namibian business and investment sector requires a push in the right direction in order to yield the required results for a prosperous economic trajectory now and in the future, said the minister. However, she added that this is possible only with the construction of robust legal and regulatory frameworks.
BIPA is currently hosting an International Roundtable Consultative Forum under the theme “Namibian Corporate Laws for a Competitive, Trend-setting and Prosperous Economy”. The forum is aimed at bringing together local and international expert stakeholders from various fields including company and commercial law, tax and insolvency law, corporate governance, financial intelligence, economics, and others to relook at the laws guiding the business fraternity in the country.
Tshepo Mongalo, a South African Professor of Law has been appointed as the lead consultant for the reform project and is well-assisted by expert consultants from the United States and the UK. These experts are armed with a wealth of experience specialising in mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate transactions, capital markets and private equity, and corporate law, amongst others. Mongalo also served as Deputy Chair of the Specialist Committee on Company Law in South Africa and was instrumental in the review and subsequent amendment of the 2008 South African Companies Act. The review process includes countrywide stakeholder consultations and further engagement with local experts before the draft bill can be presented to the Cabinet and Parliament towards the latter part of 2023.
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The reforms in the Namibian business laws are premised on the wish to create a more modernised, responsive, and simplified legal framework for the formalisation and conduct of business entities. The reform is further aimed at improving the ease of doing business in the country and the level of competitiveness, said BIPA CEO Vivienne Katjiuongua. Once enacted, the new law will promote transparency and a culture of sound corporate governance, allow for the use and application of new technologies to facilitate transactions and interactions with the Authority, and improve the ease of attracting foreign direct investment for economic growth.
