Julia Kamarenga

GOBABIS - A regional youth seminar on the 121 Rural Youth Enterprises initiative was held last week in Gobabis.
This is in line with the Cabinet directive that each of the 121 constituencies in the country registers a youth enterprise in accordance with the ‘Economic Advancement”, a pillar under the Harambee prosperity emphasising poverty eradication and creation of employment opportunities. This is through the establishment of enterprises thus leading to self-sustainability within the youth population.

The seminar was well attended by youth representatives for all the seven constituencies of the Omaheke Region. Karukirue Tjijenda, Director of Planning and Development in the regional council, advised the youth to establish enterprises that are profit driven which will in turn respond to unemployment through job creation. The advantage of such enterprises according to Veronia Mokaleng-Kuzeeko, is the opportunity they will create for joint partnerships between government, private sector, civil society and citizens in the development of sustainable youth projects.

Although some young people had mixed feelings about this new concept, Njandee Kenaruzo, a participant from the Aminuis Constituency, said the enterprises would encourage young people to remain in rural areas thereby reducing the high influx into towns and cities. This would in turn bring development as well as better livelihoods. She thus urged the government to assist with funding businesses at the grassroots level. All this is in the quest of correcting the past which led to Namibia being rated the third-worst country in Sub-Sahara in youth entrepreneurship, with just 33 percent of young people in the country starting their own businesses, and with only 44 percent young entrepreneurs who for that matter do not employ anybody else in their ventures other than themselves, said Mokaleng-Kuzeeko.

*Julia Kamarenga is an Information Officer in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) based in Gobabis.