The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) has signed a cooperation agreement with the Namibia Standards Institute (NSI) aimed at improving standardisation, market readiness of Namibian products, and easing the way of doing business.
The agreement also focuses on quality assurance, competitiveness, and support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise-led growth. It includes the development of a national policy framework to support sustainable investment and growth in emerging industries.
NIPDB CEO Dr Nangula Uaandja said the initiative is about creating more job creators to grow the economy inclusively.
"We want the employment of Namibia to increase. We want the poverty level of Namibia to go down. We want inequalities in Namibia to reduce. That will only happen when we grow the economy and we grow the economy in a sustainable and inclusive manner. And for us to do that, we need to grow the number of people that give jobs," Uaandja said.
"So we have got more people that are looking for jobs than people that are creating jobs for themselves and other people. Now, of course, when you have got those people that are creating jobs in the ecosystem, you need larger businesses that are building larger enterprises employing many people."
The partnership also promotes industry training and encourages SME participation in shaping the national quality infrastructure.
NSI CEO Dr Eino Mvula highlighted the importance of standards in attracting investment.
"You can't have investment in the country when you don't have standards, because standards also build confidence," he said. "Investors will come here because we have standards, because they know there are also services that are available, that the quality of infrastructure is robust enough—that if they bring their factories here, we have standards that they can comply with."
He added, "Their capacity in terms of metrology, which is what we do, ensures that the measurements of their services allow them to access international markets, and we have testing labs as well as certification services that allow for that as well."