Annual Report 2007 - University of Namibia

During 2007, Mr. Pomuti Akiser served as the Coordinating Director of UCCB.6.8.2 Key ActivitiesThe UCCB’s most important mandate is income generation with the aim of reducing the University’sdependence on government funding. In this way, the University actively contributes to theeconomic development of the country. UCCB operates in five key areas and are as follows:The University Central Consultancy Bureau is responsible for tendering on behalf of theUniversity for contracted projects for which UNAM has the expertise within its Faculties andCentres. These consultancies benefit government, international agencies, non-governmentalorganizations, and private sector businesses. The UCCB staff participates directly in suchconsultancy projects- assisting in proposal writing, project design, report writing and editing,budget development, evaluation and monitoring.Power Learning short courses were coordinated and developed by UCCB staff and partnersto meet the specific and immediate needs of Government, international agencies, nongovernmentalorganizations, private sector businesses and the general public. These coursesare custom designed by UCCB staff that has expertise in adult education as well as in thespecific subject matter. Course topics have included, among others: executive education,business development and entrepreneurship, communication skills and public relations,HIV/AIDS prevention, agriculture, marketing, basic and advanced computer skills, conflictresolution. The Power Learning concept is “wisdom applied”.The UCCB is following the lead of many universities worldwide that are deriving additionalincome from business development. In the Namibian context, such innovation provides theopportunity for small, young companies to be nurtured and provided with a wide varietyof business services including advice on finance, management product development andmarketing strategies. UCCB is forging a true private, public and academic partnership in orderto grow and expand sustainable employment and economic opportunities in our country.The UCCB also helps to expand internal capacity of UNAM by mentoring selected staff whoare, and will be, engaged in consultancy projects, specifically in terms of writing fundableproject proposals and project reports. UCCB also ensures that all end products are of thehighest professional quality and standards, and meet the expectations of the client. UCCB willalso build capacity of selected UNAM staff to continuously improve written skills through theprovision of writing skills workshops and create systems for the proper examination of thefeasibility, relevance and profitability of undertaking any given project.The ultimate aim is to make UCCB the leader in consultancy, short courses and businessdevelopment.67