Windhoek — Sunday sermons are set to change at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) thanks to the Old Mutual Group through its pension and retirement funds.

Old Mutual, which is listed on London Stock Exchange, has just given the church, together with staff members, dentists, lawyers, and businesspeople, an overall 12.64% shareholding in all its three business interests in the country.

These are Nedbank Namibia, Old Mutual, and Mutual and Federal. But it was not a carte blanch gesture. In exchange the chief executive for Old Mutual's African operations, Johannes Gawaxab, expects the beneficiaries to contribute to strategy of the group's development and growth. "We expect to have access clients, help the group's profile and unlock the performance of the group's businesses. And besides giving us clients they can help us with their knowledge, skills and they know best how is the climate of this country," said Gawaxab. In fact, there is a performance agreement subjected to a specific and detailed measurable semi-annual performance monitoring. Annual incentive fees can increase or decrease funding (rate 9.73%) by up to 2.5% (a 5% range) of initial cost.

The overall transaction is an intricate and complex one. Beneficiaries were assorted into six groups to represents staff members 3,97%, an education trust 2,07%, brokers and marketers 1,45%, churches and non-governmental organisations 0,93%, genuine black empowerment business consortium 2,51%, and a further allocation of 1,80% shares for future strategic opportunities that may arise. Altogether the deal is worth N$308 million of the Old Mutual Group's Namibian businesses. The 12.64% shareholding in the overall Old Mutual Group translates into 13.31% shares in Old Mutual Namibia worth N$220.5 million, 11.13% shares in Nedbank Namibia worth N$67.4 million and 11.42% shares in Mutual & Federal Namibia worth N$19.8 million.

Besides the business consortium, Old Mutual funded the transaction for the church groups and community groups. Only the business consortium was required to put up an initial 2,5% of the overall required funding.

ELCIN together with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) have benefited. The business consortium is made up of Fox Investments, Latenda Investments, Ripanga Investments, and Prudent Investments.