One Economy launches initiative to tackle youth unemployment

The Youth Opportunity Pillar under the One Economy Foundation last week launched a youth empowerment programme in Windhoek, equipping youth with practical, income-generating skills to address unemployment.

The #EmpowerToEarn launched on Thursday, in partnership with the FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust, seeks to bridge the gap between skills development and economic participation, particularly among youth outside urban centres.

One Economy executive director Pauline Thomas-Kahupi says many young people remain excluded from meaningful economic opportunities, especially in peri-urban and semi-rural communities where access to training, entrepreneurship support, and financial literacy are limited.

“The initiative will focus on long-term interventions that directly connect skills to income as a way of addressing unemployment,” she says.

Operations manager Saddam Biwa says baseline studies conducted in last October at Okahandja, Groot Aub and Rehoboth identified key marketable skills aligned with local economic needs.

The findings prioritised catering and baking, hairdressing and barbering, as well as agriculture and crop production as areas with strong income-earning potential.

“Ninety young people from the three towns will participate in two-day intensive workshops scheduled from 26 February to 6 March. Training will combine practical, hands-on skills, entrepreneurship training and integrated financial literacy sessions,” he says.

Beyond training, the programme includes post-training business coaching and mentorship to support participants in establishing sustainable enterprises.

FirstRand Namibia head of small and medium enterprises Nesdha De Jongh says the initiative aims to shift youth from job-seeking to opportunity creation by promoting self-reliance and long-term economic participation.

The One Economy Foundation is a social welfare organisation that bridges socio-economic divides by building pathways to equality and shared prosperity. It was launched in May 2016 and established under the Namibian Companies Act.

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