Windhoek — An agreement to speed up the recovery of millions of dollars in outstanding student loan debts was on Friday signed between the Ministry of Education and Nampost.

"The recovery of loan monies to the ministry of Education has thus far not been satisfactory. Only 10% of student loans have been recovered, a great concern for the ministry. That is why I welcome this agreement," said the ministry's financial accounting officer and Permanent Secretary, Vitalis Ankama, at the signing ceremony.

Bishop Hendrik Frederik, chairperson of the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), formally signed the service agreement with Berlindi Malan, General manager of Marketing at Nampost.

"This agreement allows the NSFAF to reach its clients through Nampost's postal infrastructure of 120 post offices countrywide. It is a smart strategic relationship, which means improved cash flows to the NSFAF and it presents an opportunity to Nampost to leverage its infrastructure.

Everyone wins," said Nampost's CEO, Sakaria Nghikembua, at the signing ceremony.

The CEO praised the agreement as a demonstration of cost-effective cooperation and the desirability for State-owned organizations to team in with the provision of quality services.

"I wish to urge student loan-holders to pay their outstanding debts to the NSFAF wherever they are at any Nampost post office in the country," said Bishop Hendrik Frederik, who also appealed to the student loan debtors to pay in more money to his organization.