Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE Governor of the Bank of Namibia (BoN), Johannes !Gawaxab, has apologised for the backlash surrounding the new N$1 coin \u2014 controversially dubbed the ‘Outere Dollar’ \u2014 but emphasised that the Bank is not responsible for the coin\u2019s nickname.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt (the name) did not originate in the Bank of Namibia; it originated on the social media feeds. So, on behalf of the bank, I can only offer apologies, if the name that\u2019s been ascribed through social media to some of our coins have offended or insulted some people. That\u2019s not our making, but I think we are mature enough that it doesn\u2019t harm to say \u2018apologies\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made these remarks during BoN\u2019s recent Repo Rate announcement in Windhoek. !Gawaxab acknowledged that the coin\u2019s controversial nickname has offended some people due to its negative connotations \u2014 particularly towards speakers of the Khoekhoegowab language. However, he emphasised that, as a Khoekhoegowab speaker himself, the Bank never intended for the coin to be associated with that name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, on behalf of the Bank of Namibia and someone who is speaking Khoekhoe language, it is so incomprehensible that I could associate my own language with the negative narrative that\u2019s given to this coin. I cannot disown myself. It\u2019s who I am, and it’s not good if people start saying things that are totally not right. It did not originate in the Bank of Namibia; it originated on the social media feeds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He again emphasised that the coin\u2019s design \u2014 featuring two hands exchanging coins \u2014 is intended to symbolise retail in transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the official position of the Bank of Namibia. Unfortunately, social media feeds start attributing their own descriptions and explanations of our designs and the motives, and we have not control over that. And the unfortunate part is that people call it names that are not easy to repeat,\u201d the Governor added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter THE Governor of the Bank of Namibia (BoN), Johannes !Gawaxab, has apologised for the backlash surrounding the new N$1 coin \u2014 controversially dubbed the ‘Outere Dollar’ \u2014 but emphasised that the Bank is not responsible for the coin\u2019s nickname. \u201cIt (the name) did not originate in the Bank of Namibia; it originated on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":380283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n