Khomas regional governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua has cautioned that even though the region has activities in place to help development, these efforts are still not enough compared to the current regional unemployment rate which stands at 31.5% as per the Namibian Labour Force 2018 survey.
“More initiatives and economic empowerment interventions are critically needed for all role players to curb the unemployment rate in the region,” she said during the 2021 state of the region address last week.
In fulfilling government policy to create jobs through income generating activities, the Khomas Regional Council allocated a total of N$1.5 million to its 10 constituencies for income generation in the financial year under review for which each constituency received N$150 000.
According to McLeod-Katjirua, these efforts aim to improve the quality of lives of residents through funding and empowering SMEs in the region.
“The respective constituencies facilitated the application and funding process of income generating activities for self-employment individuals and entrepreneurs,” she said.
McLeod-Katjirua added that there is also an urgent need to improve, upgrade, organise, and formalise the current informal trading markets into proper, conducive and hygienic trading centres.
Despite the number of developments, the region is still faced with challenges that the governor and her team will continue to address collectively. One such challenge is urbanisation which is an increase in the number of people relocating to Windhoek, especially to the informal settlements around the capital.
“This is putting extreme pressure on the City of Windhoek and the rest of the service rendering institutions in the region on the pace of provision of service delivery, water, electricity as well as road infrastructure and sanitation which is our co-function,” outlined the governor.