By: David Shoombe
The recurring questions young Namibians ask at public and private sector engagements are: “What is in it for me? Am I part of the plan, or should I wait for another five years?”
The beginning of 2025 was filled with hope and good commitments, with the 8th administration appointing pure technocrats in the key ministries to drive economic priority areas.
With the burden of unsolved economic inequality of the past 35 years, the youngsters pose a fundamental question: how should I jump into the wagon of hope and promised practicality, and realise the human development of Namibia which has been left behind by economic and infrastructure development?
It is, therefore, crucial to look at how we can navigate the global challenges by focusing on the national game plan of the sixth National Development Plan (NDP 6).
The well-defined NDP 6 brought a lot of hope and energised the downtrodden to partake in national economic recovery projects, with special thanks to the National Youth Entrepreneurship Development Fund, availing N$257 million to youth empowerment. The question, now, is how the beneficiaries of the pilot project will contribute to national development and absorb the discouraged yet forward-looking youth in Namibia.
At the centre of how we got it wrong is a discussion of intensifying monitoring and evaluation, and fostering accountability. Are we actively monitoring and evaluating the development of imperative national intervention, or are we back to our offices?
Salomo Hei, a well-established local economist, indicated at the Public-Private Forum that: “If you can’t measure it, you have not done it.”
The question is, do we have data to track progress of the initiated projects? If not, how can we accelerate that?
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah provided a strategic direction at the Forum and indicated that all captains of industry shall present their best possible solutions to solve Namibia’s economic challenges.
This is in terms of tackling youth unemployment, promoting economic diversification, and using our natural resources as bargaining power in negotiations for the greater good of Namibia.
The question is whether we have listened, or we are letting her down?
It was quite important to look at how the treasury and financial institutions in Namibia are working towards promoting a prudent, resilient, and forward-looking financial system in Namibia. Reading the 2025/2026 Mid-Term Budget Review, I was happy to see changes in the reporting, especially when it comes to the progress of green schemes in Namibia.
However, the findings beg the question: Is it only the Etunda, Sikonda, and Ndonga Linena green schemes that have produced outcomes and products recorded in the mid-term budget review?
Where are the records of the progress of other green schemes that have been revisited to promote food security in Namibia?
Even if each produced two potatoes or harvested one hectare of maize, a record should be provided so we can monitor how far we’ve come and evaluate what needs to be done for further progress.
Hence, it is crucial to ask: are we going to realise Vision 2030 with all we still need to achieve?
Public-Private sector leaders agreed that there is no over-ambitious goal, provided there is collaboration among all key players.
In this regard, if we are targeting 500,000 jobs by 2030, how many have we produced thus far?
Way Forward
Namibia is approaching the Regional and Local Authority Elections, to be held later this month. One would like to know what the defining factor is for all fielded candidates to make a turnaround in what we need as a nation.
With the year coming to an end, we must all ask ourselves questions on how we can get it right by focusing on the data and authentic reports, which allow leaders to make strategic decisions that can be implemented to change ordinary lives.
In the words of our head of state, Namibians faced the strongest army on the continent of Africa during the liberation struggle and managed to overcome the challenges.
Therefore, it is imperative to indicate that what we face can still be overcome if we do what we say.
