By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK Lack of entrepreneurship in the country has mainly been caused by Namibians’ heavily imbedded mentality of relying on others to improve their situation, says Women’s Action for Development (WAD). Veronica de Klerk, the executive director of WAD who recently addressed the crÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚¨me de la crÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚¨me of the business fraternity in Windhoek, believes inability to rely upon own initiative is the cumulative result of years of neglect to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth. This attitude, she added, has contributed to the high unemployment rate currently standing at a record 36.8 percent. The weakness of the school system to incubate future entrepreneurs and generally the lack of support from parents and communities at large, jointly contribute to the masses of school-leavers languishing without jobs. “For them, the equation is simple: ‘If I do not find a job, I am unemployed,’ and hardly ever do you hear them say… ‘I will create an employment opportunity for myself’,”she said. The unemployed constitute a body of highly frustatrated young people who share anti-social sentiments and can form a potentially explosive force which can cause much damage if their unhappiness is not resolved timeously, she warned. They also represent a considerable amount in potential revenue for the State which is lost. Anyone who investigates the causes of poverty, she added, will undoubtedly come to the conslusion that the lack of education and skewed distribution of people with some form of education across the country are major contributing factors to the prevalence of abject poverty, especially in rural areas. One of the major drawbacks in the country is that the training of entrepreneurs receives less attention than what the needs warrant. Statistics for the past 10 years show that only 15 percent of entrepreneurs have received technical training, and the vast majority received no training at all in business management. The shortage of trained entrepreneurs in vocational or business disciplines impacts very seriously on the small business sector. To turn the seemingly lost opportunity into a gainful situation for the country, De Klerk called on the business sector and the non-goverrnmental fratenity to harness in a synergy to capitalize on the unexploited opportunities such as women. The WAD executive, who has worked with rural women for 12 years, says this group in Namibia has potential to fight poverty if empowered through training in diffrerent areas. “Namibian women have proved to be skillful, hardworking and tenacious. Training across a wide spectrum needs to take place to achieve higher levels of productivity as a prerequisite for the creation of wealth which, if used wisely, will alleviate poverty”, she added. De Klerk also condemned the ongoing prejudice imbedded in most people that “local products are inferior and foreign is good”. She urged the Namibian business community to shed this prejudice and invest financially in the upgrading of skills and knowledge levels of local people. According to De Klerk, “The preference of our business sector to import simple linen products such as school uniforms, curtains, etc. could be brought to an end, if partnerships are formed with NGOs to contribute towards training Namibians and placing orders from locally-organized womens’ groups.” Namibia as a country is endowed with natural resources, although what is missing is human capital. De Klerk feels other projects that could be exploited are the Hoodia plant industry, the Devils Claw harvesting, and the Kalahari Silkworm. “I believe that once political will, supported by the private sector, exists to exploit the potential of local people, the first round is won and local industries can start developing”, she said.