MINISTER of Defence and former Prime Minister, Nahas Angula, this week warned that Vision 2030 could be in jeopardy taking into account the current pace of socio-economic development in the country. Of particular concern to Angula is the drastic shortage of skills in the country, as well as the lack of technological expertise, which is a necessary and vital catalyst for economic development.
In 2004 the Founding Father Dr Sam Nujoma launched Vision 2030, which is a document that clearly spells out the country’s development vision, as well as the programmes and strategies necessary to realize Vision 2030.
The ultimate aim of Vision 2030 is to improve the quality of life of all Namibians and to raise it to a level comparable to that enjoyed by citizens of the developed world by 2030. It also expected to reduce inequalities and to move the nation significantly up on the overall scale of human development, as well as to develop the country to the level of the industrialised nations of the world.
The driving force for realising the objectives of Vision 2030 are education, science and technology, health and development, sustainable agriculture, peace and social justice, as well as gender equality.
The vision is also designed to promote the creation of a diversified, open market economy, with a resource-based industrial sector and commercial agriculture, placing great emphasis on skills development.
Angula this week advised institutions of higher learning to communicate with the private sector to determine exactly what skills are needed within the various sectors of our economy. He also advised that businesses, government and educational institutions should coordinate efforts to ensure that we have a technologically savvy workforce.
Speaking at the same event as Angula, Professor Joseph Diescho, the Executive Director of the Namibian Institute for Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) admitted that the Namibian workforce lacks the necessary skills and pointed out that we may be unskilled, but we are trainable. Moreover, Prof Diescho emphasized that all Namibians, particularly those within the public service, require a paradigm shift in their thinking and need to be on the same page if we are to realize Vision 2030.
Prof Diescho further said all Namibians need to be aware of the traumatic history of the country and we all need to change the way we think about ourselves. In his view this change of mindset is crucial for the attainment of Vision 2030.
Minister Angula also echoed those sentiments by emphasising the importance of teamwork. While Angula and Diescho delivered very different statements this week, they both agreed that Namibians need to work together to forge a motivated workforce, in both the public and private sectors, moving in the same direction for a common purpose.
The crux of the matter is that Namibia needs a highly skilled workforce working together to increase the country’s competitive edge through increased productivity.
By The Editor