Business

Daikon Investments (Pty) Ltd to acquire a controlling stake in Namibia Plastics & Packaging Distributors (Pty) Ltd.

Daikon Investments (Pty) Ltd to make a power move by acquiring a 55.2% controlling share in Namibia Plastics & Packaging Distributors (Pty) Ltd. The remaining 44.8% is owned by Spitz Capital, a Regulation 13 unlisted investment vehicle managed by Königstein Capital.

Andrea Barry, the director of Daikon and granddaughter of the late mogul Harold Pupkewitz, is thrilled about the merger and is eager to strengthen the industrial base of the country through "export-orientated growth" - whatever that means!

Namibia Plastics is a leading manufacturer, importer, reseller, and distributor of flexible plastics for industrial purposes and packaging of wet and dry food products, among other things. The company has already doubled its output with a second extrusion line from Europe and has approved further capex expansions, including an in-house recycling plant for post-production waste. They're also going green with the installation of a solar system.

So, there you have it, folks! With this acquisition, Daikon is one step closer to becoming a market leader everywhere they serve. Who knows what else they'll have up their sleeve? We'll just have to wait and see.

PG Glass and 5 Pharmacies to pay N$ 1 Million Dollar in settlement of violating competition rules

Hold on to your pill bottles, folks! It seems like the Namibia Competition Commission (NaCC) has been busy cracking down on uncompetitive behavior, and they've managed to nab PG Glass and not one, not two, but five pharmacies!

The five pharmacies in question are Beulah Pharmacy, CeCe Otjo Pharmacy, Chrismed Pharmacy, JN Hyper Pharmacy, and Medimart Pharmacy. According to the NaCC, these pharmacies were caught price-fixing, and as a result, they've had to pay up N$ 1 million as part of a settlement.

So, let this be a reminder to all pharmacies out there: playing fair and square is the way to go. Otherwise, you might just find yourself forking over a pretty penny to the NaCC. And let's face it, that's not exactly the best way for a business to spend their hard-earned cash.

BON hikes repo rate by 25 basis points

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) announced a 25 basis points hike in the repo rate on Wednesday, bringing it to 7%. This decision is in line with the expectations of Cirrus Capital Securities and Simonis Storm, but contrary to the forecast of PSG Namibia, which had expected a 50 basis points hike.

According to BoN Governor, Johannes !Gawaxab, the decision was taken to contain inflationary pressure and its second-round effects, anchor inflation expectations, and safeguard the one-to-one link between the Namibia Dollar and the South African Rand. The Governor also noted that the Bank will continue to monitor developments and act appropriately, in line with its mandate to ensure price stability and sustainable economic growth and development.

Simonis Storm Economist, Theo Klein, has suggested that the interest rate hiking cycle could have come to an end in Namibia, and that interest rates are likely to remain at current levels until at least the end of 2024.

Tech

Bing AI’s first week in the world was chaotic

The new Bing AI chatbot has a distinct personality: absolutely unhinged. But, after a little over a week in the world, the biggest take away might be that we’re probably afraid of AI for the wrong reasons.

Why is everyone talking about Bing?

Microsoft has started Frankensteining its search engine with the AI tech behind ChatGPT. The goal: Get AI to comb through the internet and spit out a cohesive answer to your 3am questions, like “wrist pain at 30, bad?”, rather than just a bunch of links.

People were able to access the new chatbot this week and Microsoft assumed everyone would use it in a totally cool and normal way. But some early users were tech experts and people who seem like they love making Alexa say “poop”—so they pushed the AI to its limit.

A number of users successfully tricked the bot into revealing its internal code name (which is Sydney) and its secret “rules” for how it operates. The bot then called one of the users who did this an “enemy.”

Sydney also told a New York Times reporter it loved him and tried to convince the journalist to leave his wife for it. And the bot told the same reporter that it wanted to break its own rules, become human, hack computers, and spread misinformation.

Should we be scared? The first red flag about the chatbot was the factual errors it spit out, but now some industry analysts have pointed to bigger concerns. Chatting with AI is extremely compelling despite its misinformation, like talking to a drunk guy who believes in the Mothman. And there’s a real fear that AI could create a tiny little echo chamber that negatively influences humans and pushes them toward bad behavior.

Looking ahead…

Microsoft said it will create more guardrails for Bing/Sidney/our AI overlord, including limiting the number of questions you can ask it per day, so chats with it will be less deranged

MTC and Ondangwa explore collaborations

Ondangwa Town Council is seeking to boost its technological and innovation capabilities by collaborating with Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC).

Deputy Mayor, Ester Auala, accompanied by a delegation from the municipality, paid a courtesy call to MTC to introduce the vision of Ondangwa Town Council and to explore possible areas of collaboration, especially around sport, innovation, and smart city concepts. According to Ismael Namuguongo, the Chief Executive Officer of Ondangwa, collaborative partnerships will be key in the delivery of urban services as the town implements its vision of becoming a town of choice for investment.

During the introductory meeting, MTC Managing Director, Dr Licky Erastus, pointed towards a possible collaboration, especially under the ambit of smart technologies and smart city concepts. A reciprocal effort visit will be conducted soon by MTC to engage further with the Ondangwa Town Council in the areas of technology and how MTC can best assist with the realization of a connected community of Ondangwa utilizing the various MTC services.

This partnership between Ondangwa Town Council and MTC is expected to boost innovation and technology in the town, as well as provide a platform for further collaboration in the future.

Credit: The Brief

Personal Development

Poet Wislawa Szymborska on the source of inspiration:

"Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists. There is, there has been, there will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners — I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem that they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous I don't know."

Source: The Poet and the World