WINDHOEK – The Namibia Statistic Agency (NSA) awarded three economists with certificates for their achievements and long-term service in the economic sector of the country.
The certificates were handed to the beneficiaries at an Economic Association of Namibia gala dinner last week Thursday.
The recipients were the late Jonathan Chemu, whose award was received by his wife Elizabeth, Daniel Motinga for his outstanding contribution to the Namibian community and Daniel Bagwitz for his developmental driving force towards Namibia.
Director General for National Planning Commission Tom Alweendo said the beneficiaries deserved their awards and encouraged more economists to venture into the agricultural economic sector.
He outlined some of the achievements attained since independence, saying the local economy had grown on average by 5.2 percent over the past three years with an average inflation rate of 5.8 percent.
He said inflation should not be of great concern as the country’s economy was doing well at the macroeconomic level.
“Our Macroeconomic environment is stable of which many of the developing countries do not have,” said Alweendo
Each of the beneficiaries received an award and a cheque of N$4 000.
Further, Alweendo said the country’s economy had significantly increased from N$8 billion at independence to N$121 billion by the end of 2013, while per capita income rose from N$5 500 at independence to N$55 500 at the end of 2013.
“While per capita income hides skewed income distribution, this is nevertheless a significant achievement,” Alweendo said adding that the significant changes attained show that the percentage of people living in poverty had declined from 70 percent in 2001 to 28 percent in 2011 meaning that a total of more than 400 000 people were lifted out of poverty during that period.
He said unemployment remained a big challenge as many Namibians still looked for jobs that were not available yet.
Alweendo explained that infrastructure development such as energy generation, roads, railways, harbours, water, telecommunications, schools and hospitals provided an important foundation for economic development and should be integrated for any nation to succeed.
By Obrein Simasiku