Information Concealment: A Double-Edged Sword of Success

“Each one, teach one” is an adage often echoed by Denzel Washington and others. It captures a timeless truth: information is one of the most powerful drivers of human progress.

Teaching – whether in formal classrooms or everyday interactions – exists to transfer knowledge, skills, and understanding in order to defeat ignorance and strengthen human capacity. Learning happens everywhere: in homes, communities, media, workplaces, and cultural spaces where information flows from one generation to the next.

Relevant information shapes identity. It defines the ethos of communities, the culture of organisations, and the developmental path of nations.

Throughout history, information has driven social transformation, technological advancement, and economic growth.

When shared intentionally, it becomes a catalyst for progress; when concealed or misused, it becomes a barrier.

This reflection highlights the cost of information concealment, particularly in African contexts. Before modern education and pharmaceutical systems, African societies possessed advanced indigenous knowledge in medicine, agriculture, architecture, and metallurgy.

In Namibia and elsewhere, traditional healing practices sustained communities for generations. Knowledge was transmitted through storytelling, initiation schools, and communal instruction – systems that were effective in their time.

However, many of these indigenous innovations did not survive.

Not because they lacked value, but because knowledge was often guarded in secrecy.

Skills were held by a few families or individuals without deliberate systems of documentation or transfer.

When the custodian died, the knowledge died too.

A striking example is traditional blacksmithing.

In pre-colonial Namibia, blacksmiths often worked in isolation, producing tools deep in the wilderness to protect trade secrets.

While this safeguarded expertise in the short term, it restricted knowledge flow.

As a result, critical skills failed to proliferate, and entire technologies disappeared. Across Africa, similar losses occurred in herbal medicine, stone architecture, and farming innovations.

Other civilizations advanced by doing the opposite – documenting knowledge, encouraging open learning, and building on existing ideas. Africa’s secrecy, though culturally rooted, contributed to its technological lag.

Unfortunately, this mindset persists today.

As Vusi Thembekwayo observes, many Africans remain trapped in a scarcity mentality: “I must be the only one.”

This thinking fuels the “crab syndrome,” where individuals pull each other down instead of lifting one another up. It weakens families, institutions, and nations.

At household level, successful relatives sometimes withhold information about scholarships, bursaries, or job opportunities, fearing competition from younger family members. Instead of mentoring, they become gatekeepers.

Countless careers and innovations have been stifled not by lack of talent, but by lack of access to information.

The same pattern exists in institutions.

In Namibia, there are cases where officials deliberately withhold information about training, vacancies, tenders, or grants.

Information meant to uplift communities becomes a tool of control. In some cases, access is even sold, turning opportunity into a commodity. This undermines education as an equaliser and entrenches inequality.

The consequences are evident: unemployment, poverty, slow innovation, and weak competitiveness.

Information is hoarded within small circles of privilege to preserve power.

Yet, as Bonang Mohale asks, “How many cars can we drive at once?” No individual can occupy every position of influence.

Withholding information does not increase power – it limits collective growth.

Where information flows freely, communities thrive. Jewish, Indian, and Chinese diaspora communities have institutionalised knowledge sharing.

Business insights, academic opportunities, and investment information circulate openly, enabling faster development and stronger internal support systems. Africa can learn from this.

Encouragingly, some Namibian entrepreneurial communities are embracing openness through mentorship programmes, networking forums, and information-sharing sessions.

Where this happens, young entrepreneurs gain access to tenders, funding, compliance knowledge, and markets. Openness strengthens competitiveness and participation in the economy.

The digital age has expanded access to information, but tools alone are not enough. Social media can educate or mislead depending on intent.

The most powerful act today is not giving money, but equipping others with knowledge that changes their trajectory.

Information is a currency designed to circulate. When hoarded, it stagnates; when shared, it multiplies. Its value increases, its impact deepens, and its ability to transform lives grows.

Africa must shift from secrecy to openness, from competition to collaboration, and from scarcity to abundance. We cannot afford to lose another generation to information concealment.

Our future will be determined not by resources alone, but by how knowledge is shared.

Let us build communities where information flows freely, mentorship is intentional, institutions are transparent, and success is multiplied. Only then will Africa not merely survive – but excel.

*Augustinus Ngombe is an author, public speaker and executive director of Wezesha Vocational College. Contact him at augustino.ngombe@gmail.com

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