Towards A Knowledge-Based Economy
ALLOW me space in your highly esteemed newspaper to comment on an issue that is close to the hearts of many fellow countrymen and women.
In my opinion the issue of economic development should not be
discussed without considering the new economy, i.e, the knowledge
economy, which is driven by knowledge and creativity and where
human resources will play a more critical role in the creation of
wealth.
It goes without saying that knowledge and information are
becoming more important than ever before as we move toward the new
economy.
Consequently, forward-looking nations are positioning themselves
strategically to face the new challenges engendered by the new
economy: they are investing heavily in their human resources and
putting structures in place to enable them to exploit the treasures
within their people.
For instance, organisations/ companies in those countries are
encouraging creativity and new thinking among their employees and
citizens.
This leads to innovation, which results in new products,
services and consequently business. As a nation, the question that
we should be asking ourselves is: Will we survive the new economy
or will we fall by the wayside? In my view, when one looks at
recent opinion pieces in the papers it becomes obvious that there
seems to be two main schools of thought, or perhaps several, about
how economic growth can be stimulated. On the one hand, we have
those who seem to advocate foreign investment and industrial
development, which no doubt, has its multiple benefits.
For example, it creates employment, adds to the government
coffers through payment of taxes and may bring new skills, to
mention but a few. On the other hand, we seem to have those who see
education and training as the way forward, if Namibia is to survive
the onslaught of globalisation and achieve long term economic
growth.
Those in the education and training camp tend to emphasise the
creation of knowledge and innovation.
Both camps, as far as I am concerned, are necessary and should
therefore not be seen as mutually exclusive because a Namibia with
an untrained and uneducated workforce will not be attractive to
foreign investors, especially in the new economy where knowledge
and creativity will be to the economy what petrol is to a car.
Most importantly, Namibia will not be able to compete regionally
and globally if we do not use our knowledge and creativity to
innovate.
We will become the dumping ground of ideas, services and
products of other nations.
The way I see it, the challenge is how to lure foreign
investment and promote industrial development while simultaneously
empowering our human resources with relevant skills and knowledge
through education, training and at the same time tapping their
creativity.
By the way, the latter should also be viewed as a resource.
In my book, whether Namibia makes it or not in the new economy,
will depend on the kind of leadership this country has. There are
several qualities that will be required from the leaders to
translate the dreams and aspirations of this nation into reality.
First, there is a need to realise that there are treasures within
the people of this country that have not been discovered yet.
By treasures I mean ideas and creativity. Ideas can take this
country far.
Ideas build countries. Leaders should make it their priority to
mine such treasures through the creation of innovation and idea
creation centres and institutions.
We could even have a directorate of idea creation and get rid of
some of those archaic institutions based on the old economy.
Secondly, we need the kind of leadership that will create an
atmosphere conducive to bringing out the best in all our people
through unity, peace and motivation.
Currently, I think, we put a lot of emphasis on the exploitation
of natural resources.
But natural resources cannot benefit the masses if the latter
are not educated or do not innovate. It is only the elite and the
rich who will benefit, thus perpetuating 'the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer' situation, the ramifications of which are
clear: instability and all sorts of social evils. Education,
training and creative human resources 'exploitation' will enable us
to take our place among other nations in the new economy.
Metusalem Nakale
Oshakati
It goes without saying that knowledge and information are becoming
more important than ever before as we move toward the new
economy.Consequently, forward-looking nations are positioning
themselves strategically to face the new challenges engendered by
the new economy: they are investing heavily in their human
resources and putting structures in place to enable them to exploit
the treasures within their people.For instance, organisations/
companies in those countries are encouraging creativity and new
thinking among their employees and citizens.This leads to
innovation, which results in new products, services and
consequently business. As a nation, the question that we should be
asking ourselves is: Will we survive the new economy or will we
fall by the wayside? In my view, when one looks at recent opinion
pieces in the papers it becomes obvious that there seems to be two
main schools of thought, or perhaps several, about how economic
growth can be stimulated. On the one hand, we have those who seem
to advocate foreign investment and industrial development, which no
doubt, has its multiple benefits.For example, it creates
employment, adds to the government coffers through payment of taxes
and may bring new skills, to mention but a few. On the other hand,
we seem to have those who see education and training as the way
forward, if Namibia is to survive the onslaught of globalisation
and achieve long term economic growth.Those in the education and
training camp tend to emphasise the creation of knowledge and
innovation.Both camps, as far as I am concerned, are necessary and
should therefore not be seen as mutually exclusive because a
Namibia with an untrained and uneducated workforce will not be
attractive to foreign investors, especially in the new economy
where knowledge and creativity will be to the economy what petrol
is to a car.Most importantly, Namibia will not be able to compete
regionally and globally if we do not use our knowledge and
creativity to innovate.We will become the dumping ground of ideas,
services and products of other nations.The way I see it, the
challenge is how to lure foreign investment and promote industrial
development while simultaneously empowering our human resources
with relevant skills and knowledge through education, training and
at the same time tapping their creativity.By the way, the latter
should also be viewed as a resource.In my book, whether Namibia
makes it or not in the new economy, will depend on the kind of
leadership this country has. There are several qualities that will
be required from the leaders to translate the dreams and
aspirations of this nation into reality. First, there is a need to
realise that there are treasures within the people of this country
that have not been discovered yet.By treasures I mean ideas and
creativity. Ideas can take this country far.Ideas build countries.
Leaders should make it their priority to mine such treasures
through the creation of innovation and idea creation centres and
institutions.We could even have a directorate of idea creation and
get rid of some of those archaic institutions based on the old
economy. Secondly, we need the kind of leadership that will create
an atmosphere conducive to bringing out the best in all our people
through unity, peace and motivation.Currently, I think, we put a
lot of emphasis on the exploitation of natural resources.But
natural resources cannot benefit the masses if the latter are not
educated or do not innovate. It is only the elite and the rich who
will benefit, thus perpetuating 'the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer' situation, the ramifications of which are clear:
instability and all sorts of social evils. Education, training and
creative human resources 'exploitation' will enable us to take our
place among other nations in the new economy.Metusalem Nakale
Oshakati