Namibia, Please learn from Norway !!!

**mindfactory** · 12th May 2008, 05:57 PM

It is never to late to start learning, Namibia.

Take a look at this picture from the far northern country, Norway.

Norway is rich in oil and natural gas. But it's also a resource success story that could provide a model for other nations. The country invests the lion's share of its oil riches in programs aimed at improving the lives of everyday Norwegians.

Norway is investing its oil money to ensure the prosperity of future generations.
The boss brings the coffee in personally, and it goes without saying that it carries the label "fair trade." No indigenous farmers were exploited in the interest of global capital.

For 39-year-old Henrik Syse, that's "perfectly normal" because ethics is his business. He's responsible for the moral standing of one of the world's leading financial empires. The boyish-looking father of four daughters has a Ph.D. in philosophy, he's a part-time professor, a researcher with a specialization in peace issues -- and now he also serves as a kind of ethics advisor at the upper ranks of the Norwegian central bank in Oslo.

Syse's office doesn't look like what you might expect of a man at the helm of one of the world's biggest investment funds -- it's a drabby affair. The scholar, who has written dozens of books on how to make a bad world better, sits there wearing a woolen sweater. The only personal touch on Syse's desk is a small bust of Aristotle, the spiritual father of the theory of forms and modern logic.

Gyse's position is an experiment, and it has been granted to him for the temporary duration of one year. That's what Syse wanted. His job is to invest 80 percent of his work force into the task of examining possible moral issues associated with the activities of the Norges Bank.

The central bank administers the country's pension fund, which is financed mainly by Norway's booming oil and natural gas industries. As the world's third-largest oil exporter, the fund has a king's ransom at its disposal. The last time the the books were balanced, the fund disposed of €196 billion ($250 billion) in assets. Analysts predict it will grow this year to become the second-largest pension fund in the world.

Roughly four percent of the fund's financial resources have gone into the state budget every year since 2001. The money is used to cover shortages and finance projects that benefit the well-being of country's citizens. Most of the remaining sums are invested for future generations -- for the time when Norway's oil and natural gas reserves will have been used up.

The fund is responsible for no less than 0.3 percent of all the stocks traded worldwide, it holds shares in more than 3,200 corporations and its portfolio reads like a "Who's Who" guide to the world of international investment. It includes Blue Chip corporations such as Accor, Adidas, BASF, Porsche, Siemens, Volvo and Zürich Financial. Norway has shown great acumen with its portfolio -- in 2005, it had a return on investment of 11.1 percent, or about €20 billion ($26 billion).

Of course, some people in Norway would prefer a slightly simpler system. Right-wing populist Carl I. Hagen would rather use the petrodollars to build vacation homes for Norwegian pensioners in Spain. But proposals like that don't get very far in a country that prides itself on its tradition of social justice and is home to the Nobel Peace Prize.

An ethical compass

In November 2004, the government established ethical guidelines for the investment policy of its pension fund. Since then, an Ethical Council has overseen the various investments and separated the good from the bad. Seven corporations -- among them BAE Systems, Boeing and Honeywell -- were recently removed from the portfolio. Norwegian stocks worth 3.3 million Norwegian krona or €420 million ($535 million) have been sold as part of the ethical clean-up effort.

The corporations were blacklisted because of their involvement in arms production -- for producing components that go into the production of nuclear weapons that clash with the "fundamental humanitarian principles" of the Norwegian codex. Overall, 17 arms corporations have been declared off limits by Norway's ethics guardians.

In order to avoid similar investments in the future, Norges Bank has armed itself with a strong condex and team of ethicists. "We want to combine economic and ethical interests," investment director Knut Kjaer says. "We are powerful and we can invest in ethical values."

Syse was hired as a kind of early warning system, as the company's "very own ethical compass." But when Syse was first approached with the offer last summer, he thought it was a prank. "Do you even know who you're talking to" he asked? "I'm a philosopher, not a banker. If I had a stock or a bond in front of me, I wouldn't even know the difference."

He doesn't have to, either. Syse isn't expected to know the ABCs of investment management. All that's expected of him is that he examine the corporations that the bank invests in.

When will we be able to learn and understand that our citizens should always be put first, regardless of sex, color, creed, religion, tribe or language. Namibian leaders, please follow this type of examples and and show to the world, we in Namibia, is the smile on the face of Africa.

**Oneword** · 12th May 2008, 06:10 PM

MF,

WE have learnt a lot from Norway. Many of were educated there. There is a whole (SWAPO) Namibian house in Norway and SWAPO (and later Namibia) have also been able to benefit to a very small degree from that huge amount of money that keeps the country afloat on top of its oil.

"When it comes to Namibia, Norway and Finland stand out in the Nordic region with their long-term contacts. This is perhaps most clearly visible in the little village of Elverum where more than 80 percent of the villagers in one way or another had been involved with Namibia, mainly through The Namibia Association of Norway in Elverum.

The workshop participants were informed of the history and archive project of SWAPO at the SWAPO Archive and Research Center. The purpose is to make sure that the documentation of the liberation struggle is not lost but becomes known. Making history known and archives available was an issue raised during the workshop and in the case of SWAPO the project involves mobile units that will visit remote areas. An estimated 2.8 million documents in addition to movies, photographs and sound will be catalogued and to some extent digitalized. SWAPO Archive and Research Center is currently co-operating with the Namibia National Archives in sharing premises and equipment. Representatives from the Namibia National Archives visited the Nordic Africa Institute and other organisations in Sweden and Norway two years ago in order to identify important material and complement missing information within the project 'Effort to Recover the Namibian Heritage of Resistance and the Liberation Struggle'. Finland is currently collaborating with the Namibia National Archives."

Oh, yes, before I forget, NorskHydro was also one of the first companies to drill for oil off-shore Namibia ............................... They said they did not find any commercially viable amount.

**mindfactory** · 12th May 2008, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Oneword

MF,

Good to hear that, do you have a problem in putting it in practice or are other problems the issue not to put it in practice? Believe me, a Namibian House or castle in Norway does not mean that you have learn anything. We do not need money from any country in the world. We have more then enough natural resouces and the least is to beg from others. We need to learn from the countries that have helped the Namibians during the times in exile.

WE have learnt a lot from Norway. Many of were educated there. There is a whole (SWAPO) Namibian house in Norway and SWAPO (and later Namibia) have also been able to benefit to a very small degre e from that huge amount of money that keeps the country afloat on top of its oil.

Oh, yes, before I forget, NorskHydro was also one of the first companies to drill for oil off-shore Namibia ............................... They said they did not find any commercially viable amount.

Get your facts straight, please and stop running to conclusions.

History is a good thing, but we must live for the future and not in the past.

Our natural recources (diamonds, fish, uranium, gas and gold) should be enough to adopt a Namibian welfare state model, before exploiting the natural resources. It can bring us a system of social organization to the highest level of development. We could rank among the best place in the world.

Our country's economy also has productive fisheries, hydropower (Ruacana) and minerals sectors (Namdeb, Rossing, Tsumeb and Navachab.

Aside from the Government Petroleum Fund (Kudu Gas), which should be dedicated to care for future generations, and to develop a system of social services, including education, medical care, child care, elder care, and least but not last a good pension fund, to place the country high on global indices in these areas. Namibia must become more transparent.

Empty promises bring only poverty. Think about the future and use the past as a vehicle on the road to future. Invest in education, our people and stop living a lie should be the motto of every one in parliament and the social service, not to mention the back bone, the private sector.

Why does the truth heart you so much? Are you maybe a corrupt civil servant or simply ignorant like the most of them?

**Oneword** · 12th May 2008, 07:07 PM

Calling me corrupt or ignorant is NOT playing cricket!!

I wonder who hurts ...........................................

**Oneword** · 12th May 2008, 07:33 PM

Good to hear that, do you have a problem in putting it in practice or are other problems the issue not to put it in practice? Believe me, a Namibian House or castle in Norway does not mean that you have learn anything. We do not need money from any country in the world. We have more then enough natural resouces and the least is to beg from others. .

We need to learn from the countries that have helped the Namibians during the times in exile

Oh, like Sweden, Norway and Finland helped SWAPO - when their members were in exile?

**Pietro** · 13th May 2008, 03:13 AM

Oh, mindfactory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You forgot something quite insignificant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We ain't go no oil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nor do we have 4,627,926 inhabitants neither a GDP of US$264.4 billion nor a GDP per capita of US$46,300!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing really to worry about, but there it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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