In collaboration with Bank Windhoek, the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) hosted a first-ever Micro-Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Finance Symposium on Friday, 21 April 2023 in Windhoek.
Themed ‘Accessing finance with Bank Windhoek’, the occasion was attended by entrepreneurs who are formally registered and actively operating for at least six months. “Our call out received an overwhelming response with over 570 entrepreneurs that registered. We could, however, only accommodate 40 at the event but were able to invite all the others that registered to view the event online,” said Bank Windhoek’s Manager of Emerging SME’s Jenevieve Swartz.
Bank Windhoek’s Head of SME, Financial and Data Analytics, Bianca Janse Van Vuuren and her team, shared requirements for accounts as well as loan applications and discussed the credit analysis criteria. Van Vuuren encouraged the entrepreneurs to have meaningful discussions with the Bank regarding financing, resulting in a win-win situation. She informed the attendees that the Bank’s aim is to see entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams. “We understand that it is challenging to be a businessperson. As a result, we are here to assist where we can and continue to build on a meaningful business relationship,” said Van Vuuren.
Joachim Komeheke, the Bank’s Sustainable Finance and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Analyst, presented the Bank’s sustainability offering, which offers green financial solutions for all Bank Windhoek customers. Komeheke explained that Sustainable Finance has become pivotal in the realm of finance and that it refers to ESG considerations when making investment decisions in the financial sector. He emphasized that Sustainable Finance leads to more long-term investments in sustainable economic activities and projects.
The Bank’s Business Banking i-lounge team engaged the entrepreneurs on a one-on-one basis. “The feedback we received was positive. It highlighted the mammoth task of adequately serving the SME sector. The responsibility is now on us to strategize and develop products and services that can cater for this sector in all the various stages of the business, for example, the start-up and growth phases,” said Swartz.
The NIPDB and Bank Windhoek agreed that they would continue to engage small and medium enterprises on such knowledge sharing platforms to contribute to Namibia’s economic growth.