Namibia is fine-tuning a policy to empower blacks which will benefit the middle class and not ”a few black fat cats”, Prime Minister Theo Ben Gurirab said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the mainly black Namibia Economic Society, Gurirab said his office was holding consultations on a proposed black economic empowerment (BEE) programme.
”We will, when we are ready, update cabinet and Parliament and will also conduct consultative roadshows with as many stakeholders, opinion-makers and grassroots activists as possible and soon announce a timetable for consultations,” he said.
But he stressed that black economic empowerment would not be a ”self-enrichment crusade for a few black fat cats.”
”BEE must and can serve as a catalyst for helping a critical mass of black middle class”.
Black economic empowerment has been introduced in neighbouring South Africa to rectify the economic imbalances stemming from nearly 50 years of apartheid rule and three centuries of colonialism.
But its critics say that the policy is benefiting a handful of people who are already rich or are veteran members of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party.
Namibia, a former German colony, was under South African rule until its independence in 1990.
Gurirab blasted the World Bank’s lending affiliate, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for suggesting that BEE initiatives in southern Africa would keep foreign investors at bay.
”The scare tactic of the IMF is to broadcast a falsehood that BEE interventions in economic and financial sectors will scare off foreign investors.
”The IMF’s so-called Structural Adjustment Programme has created social dislocations in Africa and scared off foreign investors. We will continue to honour our promise to keep the IMF out of Namibia, by ensuring macro-economic stability and reducing budget deficit”, Gurirab said.
In March, the Namibian cabinet decided to set up a technical committee to design a BEE policy and to develop the broad legal framework on socio-economic empowerment and oversee its implementation. – Sapa-AFP