Namdeb Decreases Dividends

Namdeb’s shareholders, De Beers and the Namibian government, will receive a much reduced dividend due to the strengthening of the South African rand.

Namdeb says shareholders dividends will fall by 70 percent from 23 million Namibian dollars (US$3.42 million) to N$6.9 million (US$1.026 million) and that an additional decrease should be expected next year too.

The rand, to which the Namibian dollar is linked, leaped by 25 percent against the US dollar during the past year, hurting all export dependent businesses in the region.

The cutback comes at a time that the company is increasing investments in new projects and cutting overhead expenses. “We are, however, confident that the measures we are embarking on now will ensure long-term sustained profitability,” it says in a statement, “These are, in a sense, short-term pains for long-term gains”.