Justicia Shipena
The Namibia Industrial Development Agency (NIDA)’s promise of jobs has been seen as far-fetched.
Recently, NIDA’s chief executive officer, Richwell Lukonga, announced several initiatives aimed at creating 35,000 jobs over the next five years.
The job creation target is outlined in NIDA’s first turnaround Integrated Strategic Business Plan for 2025/26 to 2029/30 and its Sustainable Business Model.
However, young people believe the promise won’t materialise. Many say they no longer trust anything in the country because of what they’ve experienced in the past.
Julius Natangwe, a youth activist, says young Namibians have lost trust in institutions like NIDA due to repeated unmet promises.
“I mean, so many promises were made, and nothing ever materialised. I believe we have reached a point where young people will only trust promises if they are fulfilled. And I think NIDA does not even need to promise anything anymore,” Natangwe told Windhoek Observer.
Natangwe described unemployment in urban areas, especially in commerce, as a major challenge.
He said many graduates remain in Windhoek with high expectations but few opportunities, which contributes to social problems.
“It doesn’t matter whether you have a degree or not; it’s chaotic for everyone.”
He said the new government administration should deliver at least a fraction of its promises. “If even 10% comes from those promises, I would be grateful. But historically, promises led to nothing, or worse, job losses and retrenchments.”
Natangwe said unemployment affects three groups: those without schooling or skills, graduates, and those with skills but no formal qualifications.
He warned against focusing only on graduates, saying all people deserve opportunities.
“Young people are now settling for less because they have no choice, which is not good.”
He urged NIDA and others to develop creative programs that address all levels of unemployment.
“We can’t have young people hopeless at an early age.”
He also said unemployment is not just a youth issue. Certain recruitment processes also exclude older job seekers due to age limits.
“We hope the new administration and Nida will bring real change. But young people must also focus on what will put food on the table, rather than relying on promises that have disappointed before,” Natangwe said.
Warning about unemployment crisis
Namibia has a population of three million, with about 2.1 million young people.
The Namibia Statistics Agency reports an unemployment rate of 36.9%.
Lukonga said NIDA’s strategic plans are now active after a recent breakfast meeting with key institutions from Namibia and South Africa.
“From said engagement, we have had many offers from institutions willing to partner and share the same business objectives that align with our organisational mandates. We are embarking on numerous initiatives to ensure that our strategy remains relevant,” according to Lukonga.
He said the strategic plan was developed by Ombu Capital with support from GIZ through the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises.
Monasa Advisory & Associates developed the sustainable business model.
NIDA is now focused on collecting rentals from its key entities nationwide and aims to be self-sustainable.
According to NIDA’s chief financial officer, Julius Nghikevali, the agency will share its progress with the public to ensure transparency and accountability.
Earlier this year, NIDA said it aims to recover financially within two years after reporting a N$102 million loss for the 2024 financial year.
Labour expert Herbert Jauch warned that the unemployment crisis will continue unless more strategic actions are taken.
“There have been so many promises, not only in this election campaign but in the election campaigns before,” Jauch said.
“But what we’ve seen over time is that the actual unemployment was rising. And that’s because about 40 000 young people enter the labour market each year. So, we really need tens of thousands of new jobs to make a dent.”
Jauch said NIDA’s promise of 35 000 jobs over five years, mostly through state-linked agencies, would have only a limited impact.
“That alone will not solve our unemployment crisis,” he said.
He identified agricultural processing as a promising area for job creation.
“Turning fresh produce into finished products from jams to juices to biscuits to cereals, a large-scale beneficiation of raw agricultural produce into finished products,” he explained.
Jauch also spoke about small business development. He mentioned that the government plans to spend over N$400 million on supporting young entrepreneurs, but he emphasised that small businesses require more than just funding.
“That would be something like a universal basic income grant, where cash circulates in the Namibian economy, and therefore, small businesses can survive and sustain themselves.”
“If we’re not acting on these interventions very strategically and decisively, we’re going to end up with even higher unemployment in the years to come,” Jauch warned.
“It’s time to go beyond promises and plans and ensure that interventions happen that will make a difference,” he said.
In December of last year, after being elected president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah promised to pump N$85 billion into creating 550 000 jobs across sectors like agriculture, construction, and oil and gas.
The Swapo party manifesto says the next government would spend N$85.7 billion to create exactly 256,538 jobs across the economy.
