Windhoek — The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Namibia Compact came into effect on September 16, 2009. Signed on July 28, 2008, is a US$304.5-million "use it or lose it" grant over five years from the US government to its Namibian counterpart.

Namibia was the 18th country in the developing world to sign a Compact agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and is focused on supporting education and training and on creating a foundation for sustainable growth through economic opportunities.

The main areas to be supported under this programme are education and tourism.

An amount of US$145 million is earmarked for the education sector. For the tourism sector, US$66 million was earmarked. Of this, US$41 million is for the upgrading of the Etosha National Park; US$8 million for marketing of the tourism sector; and US$18 million for conservancy support to 31 conservancies adjacent to the park.

According to the MCA-Namibia, MCA investments in tourism aim to unlock further growth potential in the already rapidly expanding tourism sector by promoting private and community-based investments.

MCA-Namibia said under the Compact agreement, it is aimed at facilitating access to four protected area complexes combined with a concerted effort to put Namibia on the international tourism map, and the removal of barriers and create empowerment and capacity building of rural and disadvantaged Namibians.

According to the Director of Tourism of MCA-Namibia, Dr Fanuel A. Demas, the objective of the support to the Etosha National Park, which is the beacon of Namibian tourism, is to improve park management and spread the benefits of an improved park to adjacent conservancies.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) aims to significantly enhance tourism at Etosha, and it is serious to upscale what the park can offer to compete with other southern African regional attractions such as the Kruger National Park in South Africa (considered the best game park in Africa), the magnificent Chobe National Park in Botswana that holds a large number of big game and other wildlife, and the Victoria Falls.

The Etosha National Park, which was declared in 1907, stretches over 22270 square kilometres.

The park needs high maintenance, while the value of its capital is considered to be quite substantial.

Its 2000-km road network that mostly consists of gravel roads, need constant grading, and buildings for tourists and staff need upgrading.

Moreover, the staff complement at the park is the highest staff complement of parks under the environment ministry. But it was found that staff at the park needed sufficiently higher skills levels to deal with problems on the ground. A medium-term solution considered is a decentralised management service.

Under the MCA-Namibia Compact partnership, a change management advisor was appointed in October 2009, to, in conjunction with the MET, assist the ministry to "manage change" to turn Etosha into a more competitive tourism destination.

It was also decided that the senior staff complement at the park should be increased to perform decentralised decision making, that staff should be trained and a performance management tool be introduced.

If this "changed management" implementation is found to be successful at the park, the Etosha National Park model might be rolled out to other parks.

As far as infrastructural development at the park under the MCA-Namibia Compact agreement goes, it was found that there is a need of approximately 135 staff housing and management centres.

Changes of infrastructure at other strategic locations are also being considered.

These include a possible change at the Ombika-Anderson Gate and the opening up to all tourists of the Galton Gate in the western part, which is currently open only to registered tourist operators.

Through the partnership, the MET will further be assisted to develop and maintain infrastructure at Etosha.

It is also envisaged that Etosha should in future be better placed to support adjacent conservancies and communities bordering the area.

Important also is that the park should be in a position to retain dedicated staff, since it is the staff that will drive improved park management, said Demas.

An Etosha Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) has been done, and public consultations with stakeholders were held.

A final design and costing of the changes to infrastructure at Etosha is expected to be done by the end of this year.

By September 1, the MCA-Namibia will hand over road maintenance equipment that will replace old maintenance equipment. What will be handed over are, among others, tippers, sedans, double cabs, water tankers, and rhino recovery vehicles.

Demas said other game capture equipment like craters and appropriate vehicles, are important for restocking - of the park and other areas - since Etosha is considered an important breeding area.

At the start of next month, thus, rhino and giraffe crates will be handed over, as well as a rhino recovery vehicle.

For the park's translocation of wildlife programme, a helicopter is used. The park has already done some translocations. During the 2010 translocation season, 288 black-faced impalas were moved.

To further assist the movement of animals, grant support is given to fit boreholes in the identified conservancies bordering the park, to mitigate the drying up of waterholes where translocations have been done.

A tourism carrying capacity and investment promotion study is also under way.

The MCA-Namibia Compact, said Demas, is further supporting the MET to spread the benefits of the Etosha National Park through concessions to conservancies and other role players.

Funding is envisaged to assist 15 conservancies to take up equity joint venture tourism lodges. This implies partnerships between conservancies and private sector businesses, "to enhance the benefit stream" from the joint venture lodges to conservancies and its members.