Namibia News Archives

Calls for an international ban on Zimbabwe's diamond sales are set to dominate this week's meeting of the global body set up to prevent trade in "blood diamonds", in a key test for the regulatory regime.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Telecom Namibia an International Long-term local currency Issuer Default Rating of 'BBB-' and a National Long-term rating of 'A ', both with Stable Outlooks.

In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - a landmark international agreement on the basic human rights of all children - UNICEF is featuring a series of stories about progress made and challenges that remain.

History will be made today at 10h00 when President Hifikepunye Pohamba will switch on the main pump of Areva's Trekkopje Project Desalination Plant north of Wlotzkasbaken.

South Africa's targeted consumer inflation most probably slowed in September, drawing closer to the central bank's target band, a survey showed on Friday, but pressures lurk from higher power costs.

THIRTEEN days of high emotion drew to a close at the weekend, as the Namibian nation bade farewell to the man who spent close to 40 years tirelessly working to improve the lives of others.

African Stars finally turned a new page in its 57 years of existence, after local businessman Sidney Martin yesterday officially announced he has now acquired the team with a view of turning it into a commercial entity.

THERE will be a power outage for the whole day in most of northern Namibia on Sunday, NamPower announced yesterday.

A record 12 candidates, including incumbent President Hifikepunye Pohamba, had entered for this year's presidential race as the Electoral Commission of Namibia closed entries on Monday afternoon.

FORMER Deputy Minister Paulus Kapia and three fellow directors of a company in which the Swapo Party Youth League is the majority shareholder are being sued for N$2,6 million by Government.

REVEREND Hendrik Witbooi begins his final journey today as Namibia mourns the passing of one of its political pioneers and a spiritual giant.

A MAGISTRATE'S decision to grant bail to the five alleged members of a gang accused of carrying out a violent armed robbery at a farm east of Windhoek at the end of August was suspended in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

NAMIBIA'S friendliness towards the media has dropped 12 places according to the latest press freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders yesterday.

FNB Namibia is facing criticism from within its ranks, over what has been described as racial discrimination, prejudice and unfair treatment of the bank's black employees and customers.

INTEREST rate cuts have cost FNB Namibia more than N$300 million so far this year.

RIO Tinto's Rssing Uranium Mine recently held its ninth Annual Bird-watching Day at Swakopmund.

A JAPANESE national, Takano Makoto , has been found guilty of working illegally in Namibia while carrying a holiday permit.

THE Electoral Commission of Namibia has withdrawn the controversial contract for the printing of ballot papers for next month's elections in a move seen as bowing to political pressure from opposition parties, which had given the ECN an ultimatum to so by today or face a court interdict.

"The GIPF grew into a strong pension fund with a mere N$800 million in 1990 to the biggest pension fund in Namibia with an asset base of N$35 billion .

THE Motor Vehicle Accident Fund and the Roman Catholic Hospital yesterday scrambled to do damage control following a report in yesterday's The Namibian about the treatment of accident victims.

An inquest will hear how a 32-year-old volunteer from Surrey died in Africa when her harness became detached on a zip wire.

Namibia Institute of Public Policy Research sa id Wednesday that it stood by its survey which predicted that the ruling Swapo p a rty will romp to victory in the forthcoming November elections with almost 75 pe r cent of the total vote.

NEARLY N$81 million a year will be injected into the Namibian economy if banks adhere to the Bank of Namibia's deadline to drop their prime lending rates and home loan rates to 11,5 per cent by month-end. Good as it may sound in the current economic crisis, this could trigger a series of dire consequences, including banks being forced to close ...

Ten years ago, a move to legalise abortion in Namibia failed. The number of unwanted pregnancies remains high, with many people unwilling or unable to use contraception.

TEMPERS flared up at the monthly meeting of the Windhoek City Council on Wednesday night when Swapo Councillor and Management Committee Chairperson Elaine Trepper accused UDF Councillor Werner Claassen of "nearly burning the municipality down" last week.

The following nominees were chosen as finalists for this years Namibian Businesswoman of the Year Award.

Southern African countries have buried the hatchet in an effort to preserve the Southern African Customs Union , one of the few building blocks of regional integration.

Interest is building up in the planned stock exchange listing of Bidvest Namibia ahead of distribution to prospective investors of the listings prospectus.