By Magreth Nunuhe
WINDHOEK – Germany has committed over N$1 billion (Euro 73.2 million) in technical and financial cooperation to assist Namibia tackle joblessness and much needed infrastructure development.
Overall the money will be used to help reduce poverty, improve the population’s living conditions and foster economic development. The funding agreement was signed yesterday between Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Tom Alweendo and German Ambassador to Namibia, Onno Huckmann.
The agreement includes a grant of around N$423 million (Euro 36 million) for projects financed through the German Development Bank (KfW) to develop the coastal national parks, construct district roads and develop a research and development centre for the use of natural biodiversity products.
An amount of N$525 million (Euro 37.2 million) will be funnelled through Deutsche Gesselschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for programmes on land reform and management, a multi-sectoral response on HIV/AIDS and the improvement of competitiveness in the Namibian economy.
Funds amounting to N$28 million (Euro 2 million) will be used to support groundwater management in northern Namibia and to be implemented through the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources.
Part of the funding will also be used to support the quality and quantity of vocational training in Namibia, while the fields of civil and transportation engineering at the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) and the University of Namibia (Unam) will also receive support.
Alweendo said there was no specific cut-off date for when projects would be completed but that every two years they would look at the progress made and that areas in agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and infrastructure would enjoy top priority.
He emphasised the importance of developing indigenous products and marketing them.
The accumulated total of German official development assistance to Namibia since independence exceeds Euro 800 million.