“We have signed the letter of intent with Air Namibia for the purchase of two aircraft,” Hadi Akoum, Airbus’ vice-president for sales in Africa, was quoted as saying.

No one was immediately available for comment at Air Namibia.

Air Namibia, the national carrier in the southern African nation, is phasing out its Boeing fleet in favour of Airbus, as part of a cost-cutting turnaround strategy.

The struggling airline is slated to receive a cash injection of N$1.2 billion from the government under the three year rolling budget of 2012-2014.

Under the turnaround plan, Air Namibia will open new regional routes, including direct flights to Lusaka, Zambia and Accra, Ghana.

in Reuters.

The Bank of Namibia said in a statement on Friday a new amendment would allow “credible foreign banking institutions” to open branches to promote competition in a banking industry dominated by a handful of lenders.

Previously, overseas banks were only allowed to open fully incorporated subsidiaries or representative offices, it said.

The amendment will make it easier for the government to draft regulations on the ownership of banks to increase local control of lenders, it said.

The central bank said it will also now be able to levy administrative fines on lenders.

Namibia in July blocked a bid by South Africa’s Absa to gain control of a local lender, citing concern about foreign dominance of its financial industry.

Only Bank Windhoek, of which Absa had a bid to take a controlling stake, is majority owned by locals.

South Africa’s Standard Bank, FirstRand and Nedbank, all have majority stakes in Namibian lenders.

Reuters.

“Nos délibérations ces deux prochains jours vont permettre de se rapprocher de notre but commun: l’intégration politique et socio-économique et le développement de notre région”, a déclaré le président namibien Hifikepunye Pohamba, nouveau président en exercice de la SADC, devant les 14 chefs de l’Etat et de gouvernement de l’organisation.

Ce sommet, officiellement consacré au 30e anniversaire, se penchera une nouvelle fois sur le Zimbabwe et Madagascar, thèmes de nombreuses réunions régionales et du précédent sommet extraordinaire à Kinshasa.

Le président sud-africain Jacob Zuma devrait faire un rapport sur les avancées au Zimbabwe depuis la formation d’un gouvernement d’union en février 2009. Il a rencontré, à la veille de ce sommet, le président zimbabwéen Robert Mugabe à Windhoek.

La SADC a également confié la rédaction d’un rapport aux ministres de la Justice sur le refus de Harare d’appliquer les trois décisions du tribunal régional invalidant l’expulsion de fermiers blancs.

Sur le dossier malgache, l’ex-président mozambicain Joaquim Chissano présentera les derniers développements de sa médiation en l’absence des dirigeants de Madagascar.

Madagascar est suspendu de l’organisation depuis mars 2009, après l’éviction du président élu Marc Ravalomanana par l’ancien opposant Andry Rajoelina.

Ces rapports, discutés à huis clos, seront présentés mardi après-midi à la clôture du sommet tout comme les avancées sur la zone de libre-échange lancée en 2008.

Les 15 membres de la SADC sont l’Angola, l’Afrique du Sud, le Botswana, la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), le Lesotho, le Malawi, l’île Maurice, le Mozambique, la Namibie, les Seychelles, le Swaziland, la Tanzanie, la Zambie, le Zimbabwe et Madagascar.

Afp.

The deal follows a similar agreement reached earlier this month with Kazakhstan’s national mining firm, as JOGMEC beefs up procurement amid growing global competition for resources.

JOGMEC plans to send engineers to Namibia next month to help jointly develop technology to remotely sensor and analyse potential mines.

“Through the joint effort, we hope to explore new mining fields including rare earth, and accelerate joint venture projects with private mining firms to help secure stakes in rare metal resources,” JOGMEC said.

A legal revision which took effect this month gives JOGMEC more flexibility in helping private firms acquire stakes in overseas firms or projects specialising in resources.

JOGMEC was set up in 2004 to help secure supplies of oil, gas and minerals for Japan, among other things conducting field surveys to assist Japanese oil companies.

Reuters.

La Namibie débutera la compétition dans la poule D contre l’Afrique du Sud, le pays de Galles, les Fidji et les Samoa.

C’est la quatrième fois consécutive que la Namibie se qualifie pour une Coupe du monde.

Au match aller, la Namibie s’était imposée 18 à 13 le 14 novembre en Tunisie.

Afp.

Voting, which got off to a smooth start on Friday, closes at 1900 GMT on Saturday.

There were some delays in opening the polling stations and two boxes containing election material were opened without authorisation, but no violence was reported.

The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), which emerged as a breakaway fraction of the ruling SWAPO in 2007, is expected to become the new official opposition and is likely to threaten SWAPO’s two-thirds majority.

Having tackled some of SWAPO’s traditional strongholds, the RDP may pose the sternest political challenge yet to the ruling party.

Melissa Basson, a 29-year-old receptionist at a guesthouse in Windhoek, said she voted for the first time this year because she felt that a change in direction was possible.

“Before, everyone knew that SWAPO was going to win … but it’s time for a change and with the RDP we finally have a strong opposition,” Basson said.

“We need to make sure that development policies get implemented and Namibians get the services they need including housing, water and health … in all parts of the country.”

Rich in resources and wedged between economic powerhouse South Africa and oil-producing Angola, Namibia has enjoyed a long period of political and economic prosperity that has made its 2.2 million people the envy of many in Africa.

RISE IN POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT

Although it is a big diamond producer and home to 10 percent of the world’s uranium output, the global slowdown has exacerbated poverty and unemployment and widened cracks in the healthcare and education systems.

The economy is expected to contract by 0.6 percent in 2009, before recovering in 2010 on higher commodity prices and a rise in mining output.

SWAPO has faced little opposition since leading the former German colony and South African protectorate to independence, but criticism of corruption could threaten its solid majority.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) said that for the first time votes will be counted at the polling stations around the country and results will be posted outside them to ensure transparency.

During elections in 2004 four opposition parties demanded a recount, alleging fraud in the vote that saw the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) take 55 of the 72 parliamentary seats. The recount confirmed SWAPO as the winner.

Fourteen parties are competing for the 72 seats this year and 12 presidential candidates have been listed, though Pohamba is widely expected to be the winner.

Counting will begin immediately after the polls close and initial results will be known a few hours later.

But the ECN said it may take until Wednesday to count all the ballots from the 1.18 million registered voters scattered across the largely desert country bigger than Texas.

Reuters.

Namibia’s uranium resources are attractive for Russia, which has ambitious plans to build more than two dozen new reactors at home in the next 15 years but lacks its own fuel deposits.

“You ask me whether we are too late (for opportunities)?” Medvedev told reporters after talks in the capital Windhoek with President Hifikepunye Pohamba. “I will tell you sincerely, we nearly missed it.”

“We spoke about major projects in mining, nuclear energy, agriculture, tourism and other sectors,” Medvedev said.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow missed out on Namibian resources to the United States and China. It hopes its support for Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party in its armed struggle for independence in the 1960-80s will help it secure deals now.

“The USSR was one of the countries, which supported our fair struggle,” Pohamba told Medvedev. “We always remember this.”

The current trade picture is bleak with an annual trade turnover of just $6.4 million in 2008. Namibia, home to about 2 million people, also produces diamonds.

Africa has become a focus of attention for resurgent Russia under Medvedev’s predecessor Vladimir Putin who visited South Africa and several Arab and Maghreb countries during his eight-year presidency that ended last year.

Namibia, after Egypt and Nigeria, is the third country visited by Medvedev during his first African tour. He will fly to Angola on Friday on the last leg of the trip.

Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said Russia was ready to help develop Namibian uranium.

“We are offering Namibians complex exploration, which includes extracting uranium, building nuclear power stations, processing uranium,” he said.

“Russia is offering to finance these projects with payback from the subsequent traffic,” he added. “We informed the president (Medvedev) about our plans and hope he raised the issue during the talks in Windhoek.”

Russians are ready to take part in other energy projects, like building hydropower stations including two on Kunene and Orange Rivers on Namibia’s borders, Trutnev said.

“So far these projects are mostly plans,” Trutnev said.

Reuters.