Solving Namibia’s jobless growth puzzle

ANONYMOUS WRITES:

The Economic Association of Namibia (EAN), in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, hosted a high-level public discussion at the Protea Hotel under the theme “The Jobless Growth Puzzle: Can Namibia Unlock Inclusive Prosperity?” last year. The event brought together senior policymakers and government officials, private sector leaders and business associations, representatives from academia and research institutions, as well as civil society organisations and development partners.

Namibia has experienced periods of economic growth over the years; however, this progress has not translated into sufficient and sustainable job creation. The persistence of high unemployment rates, particularly among the youth, underscores the disconnect between economic expansion and employment opportunities. This phenomenon of jobless growth raises critical questions about the structure of Namibia’s economy, the inclusivity of its growth model, and the policy interventions required to unlock shared and equitable prosperity.

The public discussion sought to examine the underlying factors contributing to jobless growth in Namibia, assess the performance of key economic sectors in terms of employment generation, and explore targeted policy strategies to drive inclusive and sustainable development. Understanding which sectors are driving growth, how many jobs they are creating, and why traditionally labour-intensive sectors such as agriculture remain stagnant is crucial for shaping effective economic and social policies. Addressing this challenge is central to achieving Namibia’s national aspiration for inclusive and sustainable prosperity.

In her welcoming remarks, Grace Mohamed, Board Member of the Economic Association of Namibia, highlighted the purpose of the event. 

“This is the second last intervention for the year, right after the successful Oil and Gas Conference; whereby, we intend on doing business to business. We have invited thought leaders in their specific sector to allow thought provoking discussions to think about,” she noted.

Jealous Chirove, Senior Employment Specialist Eastern & Southern Africa, International Labour Organization (ILO) delivered a presentation focusing on the jobless growth and focused on how Namibia can Unlock Inclusive Prosperity.

“Africa is home to more than 1 billion people and half of whom will be under 25 years old by 2050. The population is expected to double by 2050-2060. Africa has the youngest population in the world with an average age of just 19 years. The key challenge of growth in the number of jobs is mainly due to absence of productive and decent employment opportunities. Africa also has structural barriers that it faces,” he said. 

He further mentioned that the government of Namibia approved the Second National Employment Policy (NEP2), 2013/14 –2016/17. NEP2 was developed through broad-based consultations across national constituents, technically solid, & aligned to NDP4. The main goal is to “promote full, productive, decent and freely chosen employment” which will eradicate poverty and reduce income inequality. Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Michael Humavindu the Executive Director at the Ministry of Finance.

“The government has put in place a clear strategic framework through the SWAPO Manifesto Implementation Plan (SMIP) and the National Development Plan 6 (NDP6). The above both strategic frameworks speak to a shift from growth for its own sake to growth that is linked to economic transformation supported by enhanced productive capacities, institutional capability-building, domestic value addition (value chains development and mineral beneficiation), and employment outcomes. We often speak of inclusive growth as a policy objective, but in reality, inclusive growth is an institutional outcome,” he stated. 

He noted that it must be mandatory to build and/or strengthen economic governance institutions; collectively formulate and implement policies, strategies and economic initiatives and programs, and subsequently evaluate related processes and outcomes; and for Government and the Financial Institutions, to collaboratively develop and implement financial instruments, targeting MSMEs and SMEs’ informal enterprises. 

Furthermore, he encouraged such platforms to be extended to create a workshop that looks at practical challenges in the various sectors which will craft practical steps on how to create jobs. – Read the complete letter on our website

The event concluded with a panel discussion featuring Jealous Chirove, Senior Employment Specialist: Eastern and Southern Africa, ILO; Rauna Mukumangeni, Director: Public-Private Partnerships at the Ministry of Finance; and Denis Yuni, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Namibia. The panellists engaged in a critical dialogue on the theme and offered practical insights on how Namibia can address jobless growth and unlock inclusive prosperity.

In the panel discussion Hileni Stefanus highlighted how to attract necessary investments without risks to investors and the government “The current framework of Namibian PPP is generic making it flexible for implementers to factor out specific targets that we want to aim towards, with a generic framework one can identify what to work on. Specific projects within the contracts creates the flexibility to incorporate the changes that we would like to see,” she noted.

Furthermore, Denis Yuni advised on how to combat skills mismatch “In order to combat skills mismatch is to do an analysis of the jobs that are available in Namibia or the sectors that are thriving in Namibia and be proactive about that, identify the sectors that will be needing particular jobs in the next two to five years and then scale backwards and align with the faculties that will be important to get the jobs and the programs that students can study to get these jobs,” he stated.

This public discussion served as a vital platform to deepen understanding of the structural causes of jobless growth in Namibia, identify actionable policy options to promote employment creation, and strengthen collaboration among key stakeholders across government, the private sector, and academia.

The discussion provided valuable insights into how Namibia can better align economic growth with job creation. EAN remains committed to supporting ongoing dialogue and collaboration toward building a more inclusive and prosperous future for all Namibians. – End

* Beste lesers, keuring vir die ­publikasie van WhatsApp, briewe en alle ander lesers­bydraes berus by Republikein. Klagtes oor die diens van ­private besighede word eers aan die onder­neming vir reaksie voorgelê. Die menings van ons lesers en rubriekskrywers verteenwoordig nie noodwendig die standpunt van Republikein nie. Republikein is ’n lid van die Redakteursforum van Namibië (EFN) en onderskryf die etiese kode vir die Namibiese media soos toegepas deur die media-ombudsman.