DBN awards outstanding businesses
The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) hosted its 2023 Good Business Awards in Windhoek earlier this week.Winner of the SME category, Brandplan Advertising, is a proudly Namibian branding and signage manufacturing company, offering a wide range of products and services such as fully fitted joinery, corporate and safety wear, corporate gifts, indoor and outdoor signage, flags, information boards and lightboxes.
The other finalists in the SME category were Kryo Investments Namibia, an SME working in the industrial gas industry, providing products, services and complete logistical solutions in the provision and application of industrial gases; and Uukalinawa Pharmacy from Ongwediva and Ondangwa that sells products ranging from controlled licensed pharmaceutical to generic finished dosage forms, veterinary medication, cosmetics and other health-care products.
Winner of the large enterprise category, Nampath Laboratories, was founded in 2012 by Esegiel Gaeb. It offers medical laboratory diagnostic services for private and state doctors. With itsnear main laboratory in Katutura, Nampath Laboratories is committed to providing the most convenient pathology testing service to the clinicians of Namibia and beyond.
The other finalist in the category was Oluno Shell Filling Station owned by Sagarias and Sarah Hangula. The service station is in close proximity to the main road, has 16 permanent employees, and has boosted economic activity in Ondangwa.
Criteria
Speaking at the event, Finance Minister Ipumbu Shiimi said that the first Good Business Awards took into consideration job creation, local sourcing, sustainable and innovative use of resources, sound administration of the enterprise and good governance.
“These criteria remain the same, and the finalists and winners epitomise that,” he said.
His message to the finalists and winners was one of encouragement, describing them as agents of development and highly valuable components in the enterprise ecosystem.
According to DBN CEO, Dr John Steytler, good business consists of enterprises and initiatives that are appropriate to the Namibian economy, that satisfy demand in the market and that are well administered.
“Good businesses are also those that can adapt to changing circumstances and economic shocks, as we have seen in the last few years,” he said.
He pointed out that good business requires the development of entrepreneurial culture at the level of the enterprise as well as at a national level.
“The Good Business Awards showcase the best enterprises financed by the bank. They are sustainable, they satisfy needs in the market and the economy, and they are administered for long-term success. However, the finalists and winners also set examples for other businesses. By examining their models and practices, other businesses can learn what it takes to succeed,” Steytler said.
He added that the bank also learns from its finalists and winners. “They become a standard against which the bank can gauge its borrowers, both in the application phase and in the support that it can offer to its existing borrowers,” he concluded.