An Investigation Into Governance Corporate Practices At Tier 3 State Owned Enterprises In Namibia

ABSTRACT  

This study attempts to fill a knowledge gap by investigating corporate governance practices of Namibia Power Corporation (Pty) Limited (NamPower), Telecom Namibia Limited (Telecom), Air Namibia (Pty) Limited (Air Namibia), and Namibia Ports Authority Limited (Namport). It focuses on the role of the government as the sole shareholder, the supervisory role of the board, the executive role of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and how each influences corporate governance practices at the selected state-owned enterprises (SOEs). A review of existing literature, a multi-theory, multi-mechanisms approach, a qualitative design, and a multiple case study method have been adopted, with a convenience sample constituted of multiple participants, in order to gain a deeper understanding and different perspectives. To ensure triangulation, multiple data collection instruments were used. A thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The findings suggest that Namibia does not have a corporate governance model that addresses the unique needs of the selected Tier 3 SOEs and the country. A tentative Namibian Tier 3 SOEs Holdings (Pty) Ltd model has been developed and proposed from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines, and from the lessons of the Temasek model of Singapore, which may assist policy makers, practitioners, and future scholars. The need for theory development has been pointed out as a challenge.  Findings of the multiple case studies of the selected Tier 3 SOEs can serve as a basis for theory development by future scholars. Finally, a study on the operations of the new Ministry of Public Enterprises, constituting a larger sample of the Tier 3 SOEs not covered in the current study, is highly recommended.