President Nangolo Mbumba has reiterated that any proposal for development projects is welcome, but said discussions must first be exhausted at the line ministries before reaching the State House.
Dr. Mbumba says this approach is crucial when decisions are taken for projects to commence to the benefit of the country.
The president's response follows a proposal by the Austrian housing project, Global Housing Solutions, which considers itself a world leader in innovative, modular building solutions for social housing.
Its broader objective, it says, is to eliminate slums through the provision of affordable housing, boasting a high success rate in 10 African countries, eight in Europe, and 21 in South America.
"Why is this possible? It is possible because the cost of our construction is low compared to other technologies, and the second thing is that, due to our technology, the maintenance is almost zero, and you make a one-time investment and you have the house forever. Especially in difficult climatic conditions, we are doing economies of scale; we are doing industrial production, which means that they are later firmed by steel or concrete," said Alfred Gusenbauer, the 10th Chancellor of Austria.
The Austrian company is proposing that the Namibian government enter into a contract with a state-owned Austrian bank for a loan with a three-year grace period before repayment starts.
"We have already pre-negotiated with them, and we think that for a bigger project, we could realise around 70 million euros for the first bigger project in affordable housing or mixed structure, housing, schools, or hospitals, depending on your requirements. You do not have to manage the money here; it is managed by Austrian partners who provide guarantees and deliver financing."
Austria's former Chancellor says Global Housing Solutions could set up a plant to produce the required building materials in Namibia should the project get off the ground.
"This we only do at the very beginning as long as we do not have our own plants, and as soon as we see that there is a market, we will invest in local plants together with local partners, Austrian investors, which would also offer jobs to about 200 people that would work in a factory."
President Mbumba said such proposals are welcome, provided that discussions are exhausted at the implementation level.
"The President does not decide on money issues, but I can say we need the products, and we need them like yesterday. Not only in terms of housing, but schools and VTCs, so I hope it will be possible to have direct negotiations on money issues with the ministry of finance, which can advise the government and further advise the Cabinet."
Namibia has a backlog of about 300,000 housing units, despite interventions by various stakeholders.