The great phenomena that haunts the Namibian nation is our youth unemployment rate, which is a result of the country’s current bad economic status.
The current youth unemployment rate peaks at a drastic 46,10%. With the youth making up the majority of the Namibian nation, we are a vital and key function to the country’s current and future growth, and with almost half of us unemployed, our country’s status only seems to worsen.
This scenario does nothing to encourage young people who have a passion for entrepreneurship.
We urgently need to tackle and reduce the youth unemployment rate. The youth are the contemporary leaders and nothing can be done for us without us. The current rate under discussion furthers the strain on the government and the dependency of the youth on the Namibian government, which should not be the case. Youth in rural areas of our country bear the full brunt of unemployment, where there are limited if not nearly zero employment opportunities or even community development initiatives to engage in.
This has thus resulted in a number of young people migrating from the rural areas to the urban areas of the country, especially on the outskirts of major towns. A key element in reducing youth unemployment in both urban and rural areas of the country would be to develop and nurture the vital element of entrepreneurship among the youth. The public and private sector need to collaborate in order to promote and empower local businesses because often when young people decide to start an enterprise, we lack capital. Even if the capital is there, after the enterprise has been set-up we lack the support. Support from both the public and private sector not only provides employment for the Namibian youth but also develops the local economy through additional taxes and market diversification. This analogy speaks to the urgent need to capacitate young entrepreneurs.
It is evident that young graduates from universities and institutions of higher learning feel the harsh pain of unemployment because most, if not all vacancies, demand experience which youthful graduates do not possess even though they have the qualifications. This has led to some graduates settling for jobs which do not meet their qualifications, with low salaries and little or no employee benefits. To address this issue, the Namibian government needs to create a platform where young graduates from universities and institutions of higher learning can interact with the private and public sectors and network.
This will enable graduates to possibly gain internship opportunities, with experience thereby following suit, because most vacancies demand experience which graduates do not have. This would be especially helpful and vital for courses that do not have solid modules on internships or practical courses that are based on industry-related etiquette. Moreover, I believe that the country needs to actively promote vocational education. A step of such magnitude will dramatically increase the pool of skilled labour available to work in a variety of industries. Consequently, foreign investors would be lured to the country in efforts to grow the economy. When investors want to set up a company they evaluate the skills of the workforce so that they don’t struggle to get the workforce or have to import it from neighbouring countries, which in this case will compel them to deal with work permits and the complex process of recruiting workers from abroad.
However, if this is to be carried out, taxes on all forms of trading will require a slight reduction, as well as devising conditions that are to be adhered to by investors. Conclusively, Namibia has the potential to realise its goal of economic emancipation and social prosperity. This can only be achieved with viable measures to decrease the youth unemployment rate. The working class of any country is its productivity backbone. Therefore, providing incentives to young entrepreneurs, increasing internship opportunities and attracting foreign investment by means of an improved skilled workforce will have a great effect in reducing unemployment. Failure to do so will only prolong the country’s development and thus interfere with the goals of Vision 2030, NDP 4 and 5, as well as the Harambee Prosperity Plan.
Rivaldo Kavanga is member of the Children’s Parliament and a Grade 11 pupil at Jan Möhr Secondary School. He can be reached at rivaldokavanga22@gmail.com.
