Cash grant to thousands of Namibians

Jo-Maré Duddy – Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi this afternoon launched the Emergency Income Grant (EIG), which could fill the pockets of up to an estimated 739 000 income-starved Namibians with a once-off N$750 payment.
This N$562-million cash injection is part of the first phase of government’s Economic Stimulus and Relief Package, worth N$8.1 billion in total.
Adult Namibians who qualify, can submit applications from tomorrow, Good Friday, until 30 April at 11:00.
Payments will start on Tuesday, 14 April.
Applications will take 72 hours to process.
To qualify for the grant, people must be between 18 to 59 years who:
•have lost jobs or income, in part or full, in the informal sector of the economy as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak,
•are unemployed, taking into consideration that the effects of Covid-19 and related public health protective measures have weakened the means of support and subsistence income across the country.
People who are excluded are:
•below the age of 18 ( who are neither employed or unemployed because they are supposed to be in school),
•employed and have not experienced reduction in wages,
•persons receiving any form of state social grants and government support such as Namibia Students Financial Assistance, and
•have jobs or experienced reduced wages in the formal sector.
To ensure speedy application, assessment and disbursement of the grants, the following modalities will be followed:
•Applicants will nominate themselves and make application via cell phone short message services (sms) to MTC number 141222, free of charge.
•MTC will send out a trigger sms to all MTC sim card holders to prompt the application process.
•Applicants will answer a set of predetermined questions with details such as the person name and surname, national identity number, preferred cell phone number (through which the benefits will be paid) and the region of residence.
•Noting that not all people own cell phones, up to ten persons can make use of one cell phone number which they commonly use at household level and make their own cash withdrawal arrangements.
•For ease of administration, the payments will only be made via digital wallets of participating commercial banks - FNB Namibia, Bank Windhoek and Standard Bank. Applicants will be requested to indicate a commercial bank of their choice where their digital wallets will be distributed.
The MTC call centre will assist applicants with the necessary clarifications during the application process.
The database of applicants so generated by MTC will be subjected to rigorous validation checks against the eligibility criteria. This activity will be conducted by MobiPay Namibia, free of charge.
After the approval of the application, you will receive a token from the bank you have selected in the application process.
The token would be for one of the following e-money products offered by the respective bank namely e-wallet, bluewallets or easy-wallets. The token can then be redeemed using the cardless services at that bank’s ATM, or can be used to transact directly via the various value added services provided by the various wallets.
Shiimi urged the beneficiaries to use the grant funds prudently.
“This benefit should necessarily be earmarked to secure the most basic needs for sustenance and improving quality of life such as securing basic health and nutritional needs during this time of unprecedented national experience,” he said.
He added: “Consideration for similar arrangements in the future will only depend on the availability of resources, which are increasingly limited due to the adverse effects of Covid-19 on the economy and public revenue.”