Financial and Investment Protocol website
The Ministry of Finance this week launched the SADC Finance and Investment Protocol website for Namibia. The website will assist Namibians hoping to become more familiar with the country’s position within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), especially in terms of trade and investment.
The Protocol on Finance and Investment (FIP) is one of the protocols entered into by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to give legal and practical effect to their commitments under the SADC Treaty. The FIP was signed in August 2006 by 14 SADC member states, ratified by a two-thirds majority in 2010, Namibia being one of these member states and came into force on 16 April 2010. It seeks to foster harmonization of the financial and investment policies of the member states in order to improve the investment in each member state and thus catalyse foreign and intra-regional investment flows, and to enhance cooperation, coordination and harmonization within the domestic financial sectors in the region with the aim of expanding and diversifying the productive sectors of the economy.
Speaking at the launch Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary Ericah Shafudah said the website provides all relevant information concerning the finance and investment protocol. “The Ministry of Finance in particular the Directorate: Economic Policy Advisory Service (EPAS) has established the SADC FIP Implementation Coordination Unit within the Directorate. Their responsibilities include scheduling briefings and de-briefings with national sub committees responsible for the implementation of the various Annexes; briefing of the ministry’s management on progress made; collecting, verifying and collating data for the annual M&E Status Report; and enhance the communication and cooperation between the institutions involved in the implementation”, she said. Shafudah also said that the FIP Implementation Coordination Unit has created three cluster of related and sometimes overlapping FIP topics. The clusters include the institutions involved in the implementation such as the ministry of Finance, the Bank of Namibia, Namfisa, the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) and the Development Finance Institutions. Private sector associations are represented in these clusters as well as the private sector is also expected to benefit from the harmonization of the financial and investment frameworks.
The web site can be accessed at www.sadc-fip.gov/na.
