CEO's Report

One of the more significant events, albeit very late during the reporting period, was the replacement of the Hon. Deputy Minister, Isak Katali, with Hon. Peter Iilonga. Having shown us, even at Deputy Minister level, what he is capable of, we congratulate the Ministry of Mines and Energy on its good fortunes. We welcome the new Hon. Deputy Minister Iilonga, and are assured of an excellent working relationship.

A serious source of apprehension during the year was the possible outcome of further negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). It is general knowledge that the negotiations were not concluded during the reporting period; while, Namibian beef, grapes and fish were allowed to be exported tariff-free and quota-free to the EU for yet another year.

Chairman's Report

Brittle, like a cast iron pot, is how the agronomic industry in Namibia can be described. In fact, this was the comparison I used at the NAB's 21
anniversary a few years ago.

A cast iron pot is very hard, but should be handled with care because it breaks easily when it is dropped or takes a hard knock.

The Namibian agronomic industry can also be seen to be brittle, firstly due to not only climatic conditions, but also due to our soil conditions, relatively low consumer demand , overall small production linked to a small processing and service supply industry. I am convinced that regulatory measures implemented by our Board contributed enormously to making the entire industry viable and stable over the past years, and this makes serving this Board as Chairperson a great privilege.