Day: June 1, 2023

Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration, Tobie Aupindi has opposed the issuing of mineral resources rights to foreigners, who do not have Namibian shareholding interest.

Aupindi made these contributions on Wednesday in Swakopmund during the ongoing oversight Workshop on Maximising the Potentials of the Mining and Energy Sectors in Namibia.

The week-long workshop is assessing the state of mining, energy and oil sectors in Namibia, including their contribution to the country’s economy, employment and sustainable development among others.

“I am aware that there are some mining rights owners of foreign nationality who do not have Namibian shareholding rights in whatever form and that should be completely done away with, and the proposed Bill must make it clear that you simply cannot get a mineral licence in Namibia if you do not have the interest of Namibians who are the owners of these natural resources,” Aupindi noted.

The proposed Bill is providing for Namibians to procure and maintain ownership of not less than 5 per cent of its equity shares in mining companies as may be prescribed by the mining charter.

The proposed provisions area results from a growing public concern that the country is not benefitting equitably from its mineral resources because most mining companies are owned without local participation.

Currently the Act does not prescribe only ownership in either exploration and prospecting licences (EPLs) or mining licences (MLs).

Aupindi has further proposed that it should become illegal to export raw material from Namibia in terms of mineral resources.

“There has been mention of the beneficiation law that is coming, but there must be a transition period in this Act that allows that at a particular date, that Namibia will no longer export its minerals in raw form and it should not just be left to the beneficiation discussions or proposals that are going on here,” he said.

Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo in his keynote address at the opening of the workshop on Monday already noted that raw materials are highly sought after globally and should therefore not be exported in raw form.

“We cannot mine these minerals where they are exported in their basic raw form or where minimal value has been added. We must insist that critical raw materials are not exported without value being added locally and where possible,” Alweendo expressed.

The workshop ends on Friday.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The "Programme to support innovation in Tunisia's inland regions" (P.I.RTN), implemented by Initiative Médenine, leader of the Initiative Tunisie network, and supported by the European Innov'i-EU4Innovation project, came to a close on Thursday evening at the Baron d'Erlanger space in Tunis.

This support programme for innovative project leaders aims to promote innovation in Tunisia's inland regions. Since 2020, actions and activities to support entrepreneurs have been deployed in 5 regions, namely Médenine, Gafsa, Kasserine, Sidi-Bouzid and Jendouba, with the aim of providing direct financing to entrepreneurs.

A budget of 750,000 dinars over two years in the form of loans of honour has been mobilised as part of this programme. This funding enabled entrepreneurs to cover start-up needs for companies in the creation phase and access needs to new markets for growing companies (prototyping, intangible investment). According to Noureddine Ksiksi, Chairman of Initiative Tunisie and Initiative Médenine, "16 projects have so far been certified under this programme, giving them the chance to access the funding mobilised for this purpose.

14 projects have already been financed and two others are awaiting the release of the funds earmarked for them". He added that by June 30, 2023, a total of 19 projects will have been certified and financed in accordance with the objectives initially set by the programme.

The certified projects include Livrina, a digital home delivery platform in the governorate of Kasserine, and the start-up Inara Solutions, based in Sidi-Bouzid and specialising in the installation of photovoltaic panels for farmers and manufacturers, which hopes to extend its activities to other regions of the country thanks to the support of the programme. There is also an energy engineering and consultancy firm, Save Water, based in Gafsa and specialising in the detection of fluid leaks, and the start-up Fer Déco, based in Sidi-Bouzid and specialising in metal construction based on the recycling of iron from scrap metal and the circular economy.

Following the closure of this programme, Initiative Tunisie is preparing to launch a new Green Innov'i programme to support green projects in the governorates of Kairouan and Kef.

The call for projects is scheduled for September 2023 and the project will start at the beginning of 2024.

Initiative Tunisie is a support network for entrepreneurs which received its visa in 2019. It is made up of 9 independent and operational units called platforms. They are local economic development tools, bringing together local players in business creation and providing a decentralised local service free of charge for entrepreneurs. Innov'i - EU4Innovation is a project to support the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in Tunisia, financed by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France.

The aim of the project is to support the strengthening, structuring and sustainability of the Tunisian entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. Expertise France is the French public agency responsible for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Additional taxes can be imposed on individuals who unjustly benefit of subsidies on various products, instead of removing subsidy, President Kais Saied indicated at his meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden on Thursday at the Carthage Palace.

Saied suggested taking this action independently, without submitting to "external diktats."

He highlighted that such an approach had been previously implemented in Tunisia during the 1940s when the subsidy fund was originally established.

The meeting primarily revolved around the government's activities and ways to preservethe country's macroeconomic balances.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A protest rally by magistrates took place on Thursday in front of the Tunis Court of First Instance to denounce what they described as the "injustice" endured by magistrates dismissed under Presidential Decree No. 2022-516 of 1 June 2022.

The demonstrators demanded "the liberation of the judiciary from the grip of the executive power represented by the President of the Republic and the Minister of Justice".

Magistrates brandished slogans against "interference" in the judiciary, such as "Justice of freedoms, not of instructions" and "Judiciary: no to dismissal and slavery".

The rally was organised by the Association of Tunisian Magistrates (AMT) and the Collective for the Defence of Dismissed Magistrates, to mark the first anniversary of what magistrates are now calling "the massacre of the 57 magistrates".

AMT President Anas Hmaidi said that "today is a black day in the history of Tunisian justice, as it is associated with the unjust dismissals of June 1".

These dismissals were not based on real cases, he stressed, pointing out that the Administrative Court had rendered justice to 49 magistrates out of the 57 dismissed and had decided to freeze the execution of these dismissals.

"The Ministry of Justice is refusing to apply these decisions", he said indignantly.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse