By:Andrew Kathindi
The minister of finance, Iipumbu Shiimi, has announced that the government has raised N$408.6 million from the auctioning off governmental objectives fishing quotas.
The three auctions took place in June and August, respectively, this year put together by the ministry of finance and the ministry of fisheries and marine resources, with a plan to raise N$183.75 million.
The auctions are a follow-up to the disappointing first attempt by the government to sell off its objective governmental quotas through an auction last year when only a paltry N$8.4m was raised from an initial N$627.9 million worth of bids.
A technical committee was set up by the finance minister following the disappointing return.
“To avoid speculative bids that distorted the auction held during 2020, bidders were required to provide a bid deposit or a bank guarantee. Therefore, the tender invitation required prospective participants to either make a deposit equivalent to the reserve price or to provide a bank guarantee equivalent to the bid price multiplied by the number of metric tons applied for.”
The government has thus far raised N$189.8 million from hake, of which a total of 15,948 Metric Tons (MT) was auctioned on 18 June, while a total of 87,500 MT of horse mackerel were auctioned off at N$128.6 million on the same date.
392 Metric Tons (MT) of Monk fish was auctioned on 27 August, raising a total of N$4.3 million.
Shiimi said a residual balance of 27,300 MT of the horse mackerel was unallocated due to poor demand at the auction held in June. This led to the ministry offering quotas to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in September.
“Subsequently, given the quantum of the MTs available and with six months remaining on the Horse Mackerel fishing season coupled with the limited demand from domestic players, the ministry of fisheries engaged the government of the DRC that expressed a desire to take up these remaining MTs,” Shiimi stated.
DRC settled their financial obligations of N$85.7 million on 7 October, according to Shiimi.
“As normal auction rules, the quota was sold at the average price of the auction for Horse Mackerel. This approach increased the total metric tons for Horse Mackerel from 60,200 metric tons originally sold on auction to a full allocation of 87,200 metric tons at N$214,350,448.”
