The Government is considering the possibility of using 50% of proceeds from the Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) Initial Public Offering (IPO) as seed capital to kick start the much-anticipated Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), dubbed the Welwitschia Fund.
With 367.5 million shares having been put on offer, equal to a 49% stake, the Government through the Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings Limited (NPTH) is expected to raise N$3,123,750,000 from the IPO which closed this week, of which N$1,561,875,000 could be earmarked for the SWF.
The latest announcement by Finance minister Lipumbu Shiimi comes after he indicated earlier in October that the SWF is expected to be operational before the end of the year to secure the country’s future savings and transform the economy.
In his October announcement, Shiimi had also identified funding for the SWF to come from savings, proceeds from the green renewable sector, mining royalties, fishing quotas, divestiture of state-owned enterprises as well as Southern African Customs Union receipts.
According to Shiimi, the intergenerational wealth fund will have a balanced mandate where 70% of the assets bought are risky assets such as equities while the rest are fixed income assets, real-estate and private equity.
