Statistics play a vital role in the many ways we contextualise, analyse and process information, and so often, it infers to us a reality we may not be ready to confront or deal with. In most cases, statistics may very well land in the hands of people who already live the daily reality, and in other cases, inform stakeholders alike to conceptualise and reimagine bolder and daring realities for a community of people. 

Whilst there are variables in how we all internalise information, there’s no doubt that the process itself may be to our own detriment when we learn that we represent a statistic which has not improved, and renders the majority perpetually despondent of their own future. 

According to the brief background statement in the third National Youth Policy, “Namibia has a dual economy, with a rapidly growing informal sector, with 66.5% of the total employed population in informal employment (67.5% women; 65.6% men). In addition, of the total number of the urban population, 57.3% are employed in the informal sector, while 81.1% employed in the informal sector are from the rural population.” 

In an article in the New Era, the reality of unemployment is further contextualised by the UNFPA country representative: “Namibia, with one of the youngest populations in Africa, could reach a staggering 50.30% youth unemployment rate by the end of 2021. Failure to provide education, create decent opportunities and access to health services for a youth-dominated population poses a potential threat to the economic and social stability of the country.”

With the above in mind, it is worth deconstructing anecdotally what these staggering figures actually mean, and how it relates to the average unemployed young person. With more than half of our population that rely on the informal sector to eke out a living, compounded by nearly half of our youth population unemployed, it’s almost impossible not to imagine and yet also to agree that unemployment in Namibia, moreso youth unemployment, has been and becomes a violent epidemic which has slowly and insidiously eroded any sense of dignity and hope the Namibian youth held for a more productive and reassuring future. In light of this, it would be remiss not to highlight the stark race and class inequalities which classify but subsequently determine access to equitable employment
opportunities. Namibia’s social and political history has for years been characterised by colonial exclusion, and remains so even within the employment sector. This should be evident enough in the different realities and results of majority Black unemployed youth versus their white counterparts, who make up a minority of our population. 

It is not only that youth may not find jobs or get employed early enough to emerge in the sectors which hone and develop their skills further, it is also in the many ways their appetite for a more inclusive, enhanced and better future may deteriorate. In fact, at a much closer glance but also with data which confirms this, a Namibian youth may transition through demographic categories without being gainfully or equitably employed: “On average, young Namibians remain economically dependent until age 27. Many young Namibians who should be productive adults are dependent well into their thirties because of the lack of work opportunities,” the third National Youth Policy illuminates. 

So many Namibian youth have consequently but violently been left out of the economic promise for a more prosperous future due to structural and institutional inequalities which continue to persist beyond thirty years of independence from colonialism and apartheid. Moreso, this is due to a failure in governance to ensure that (post the apartheid administration), the future of Namibian youth across generations remains secured and constitutionally protected. One could even call the highlighted statistics on unemployment a crime, robbing the youth of a future and reality to meaningfully participate and develop our economy. 

Trading or employment within the informal sector (which make up more than half of our total population and majority being women), does not guarantee security nor does it produce any elements of sustainability within its existing model which is characterised, et al, by the following, according to the Namibia Informal Economy Case Study Report 2016/17: 

• Most of the own-account workers are young adult females who have completed junior secondary education;

• Those who have not received any training in running a business were 70%;

• Close to 60% of the businesses were operating at home;

• Further findings indicated that access to credit and microfinance is limited in the informal sector;

• Employment created in the informal economy sector is reported to be largely exploitative and insecure.

The prevalence and size of the informal sector would and should also be another indicator of the symptom of structural inequities, but also the aftermath of how unemployment produces a sector which ultimately does not guarantee a dignified working life. Simply put, the informal sector is another moral mirror which reflects the failure in governance and leadership three decades after colonialism to protect the social and economic livelihoods of the majority of our population. 

Statistics may contextualise a reality on which informed decisions and policies may be adopted, but it seems, in Namibia’s case, statistics on unemployment remain perpetually rooted in defining and characterising how the future of Namibian youth have for years been denied and inadvertently, locked in by unemployment. What a violent truth to live with.