Namibia

Namibia

Government orders official bodies to buy local

23 May 2019

On 23 May 2019, the Finance Minister issued a Procurement Directive on the reservation of procurement of goods, services and works to local suppliers in terms of Section 73 of the Public Procurement Act. The Directive bans all public entities from importing a wide range of goods and services. In particular, it extends procurement reservation to:

  • 100 percent Namibian-owned SMEs and entities which are 51% or more equity owned by Namibian citizens. In case of joint ventures, each entity of the partnership must be at least 51% or more equity owned by Namibian citizens, and
  • goods, services and works to be reserved must have at least 65 percent local content, with categories such as professional services and labour works to have 100 percent local content.

The list of goods that must now be sourced domestically ranges from foodstuffs to jewellery. Services now to be supplied by local firms cover areas such as catering, cleaning, security, printing, event management services, advertising and branding, transport, freight and logistics, environmental rehabilitation and waste management. Local suppliers must also have a Namibian bank account.