Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said Namibia is a wealthy country, but the majority of its citizens are poor. 

“If we can only resolve that problem and feed our young people with knowledge and skills to be able to harness the opportunities that exist in this country, then the picture can turn around. Others around the world are able to enjoy when they come here as investors to better their lives,” she said last week while addressing visitors to the
Ritja career fair in Gobabis.

The PM said Namibia is soon going to be a producer of oil as well as energy from green hydrogen. Thus, she urged young people to drive these industries to derive optimal benefits from them. 

“Alongside human resources’ development, government policies are also here to promote research and innovation for knowledge-creation, an application which is indispensable for economic growth in development,” she noted. According to Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, providing the necessary education, knowledge and skills is essential to empower citizens to enter the workforce. 

“As a country, we make great progress in providing access to education. However, the quality of education needs to be improved, especially in schools that serve the previously disadvantaged communities”, she emphasised. 

“Learners are called upon to fully optimise the opportunities that are provided to them to acquire skills and qualifications in order to prepare themselves for the labour market and position themselves to drive the economy, but most importantly, for them to benefit from the endowment that our country is blessed with,” urged the PM. 

To overcome rampant poverty in Namibia, the World Bank last year advised for the implementation of crucial structural policy reforms that it said will be a prerequisite to raise domestic growth potential. 

This was after the global bank’s overview indicated that some 1.6 million Namibians live in poverty. 

According to the World Bank, these structural reforms are essential measures which ultimately change the fabric of an economy, including the institutional and regulatory framework in which businesses and people operate. The structural reforms are designed to ensure the Namibian economy is fit and better able to realise its growth potential in a balanced way. 

This advice from the international financial institution was offered after an analysis on the effects of Covid-19 on the domestic economy, which revealed shocking figures. 

Mines minister Tom Alweendo said while in South Africa at the 2023 Invest in African Mining Indaba last week that Namibia has an attractive, sophisticated and modern mining industry, rich in mineral resources, with largely untapped world-class renewable energy resources that are able to absorb many and drive the economy further. -mndjavera@nepc.com.na