WINDHOEK: The Namibia Institute for Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) on Monday launched a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) Business Centre aimed at ‘fostering excellence’ in SOE administration.
The SOE Business Centre was created to “provide systematised professional transformational training and to be a dedicated training centre” for all SOE and corporate entities in Namibia.
Speaking at the launch of the business centre during a breakfast meeting here, Prime Minister (PM) Nahas Angula said the centre will, through training, help the Board and management members of SOEs to develop their knowledge of corporate governance and other efficient management practices.
“The centre will also develop a new generation of holistic corporate managers with a capacity to manage SOEs in a dynamic and complex environment,” he said.
Speaking to Nampa in an interview on the sidelines of the event, the acting Executive Director of NIPAM, Elsie Nghikembua said public servants’ interest in the training offered by the institute has grown since it opened its doors last year.
She said now that people understand what NIPAM is about and what it is supposed to do, they are showing a lot of interest in the courses offered there.
“One example is that when we started off with the Senior Management Development Programme, only 15 people attended. If you look at the current group, it has close to 50 people in attendance,” she said.
Nghikembua added that another factor which has boosted participant numbers at the institution is the fact that people now understand that what they learn will have a positive impact on their work environment.
Currently, NIPAM runs the Central Government Business Centre, Regional and Local Government Business Centre, Research and Consultancy Business Centre, E-Governance and Learning Resource Centre, International Diplomacy and Foreign Relations Business Centre at its head office in the capital.
It also offers Senior Management Development Programme, Middle Management Development Programme, Business Process Re-engineering and Policy Development courses, amongst others, for civil servants.
So far, 65 people have undergone training in the Senior Management Development Programme, while 60 people have been trained as part of the Middle Management Developement Programme.