Public service instrumental in development – Uanguta

Bank of Namibia (BoN) deputy governor Ebson Uanguta has highlighted the importance of public service in the country’s development.

He was speaking at a public lecture in celebration of this year’s Africa Public Service Day on Tuesday.

“To broadly uplift our society and improve the living standards of our people will require a fit-for-purpose public administration,” Uanguta said.

During his lecture, Uanguta paid close attention to the intrinsic benefits associated with regional integration for Namibia, focusing on the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

“Namibia can derive great benefits from the utilisation of regional and continental economic platforms, because by creating a single continental market for goods and services, it eliminates or reduces tariff and non-tariff barriers among the 55 African countries,” he said.

He said the free trade agreement provides Namibia with access to a bigger market of approximately 1,2 billion people.

“This is a vast opportunity for our private sector to thrive, increase domestic economic activity, create quality jobs, as well as reduce poverty and inequality among our people.

“Accordingly, playing in a larger market introduces competition for local enterprises and requires our public service to be competitive,” he said.

“AfCFTA, is not the only opportunity Namibia can capitalise on. There have been discoveries of significant oil and gas deposits on our shores. At the same time, our ample endowment of sun and wind resources have positioned Namibia as a frontier market for the production of green hydrogen,” Uanguta said.

He said there are three fronts on which the public service can assist to unlock these significant economies, which are drafting appropriate public policies, delivering public infrastructure, and providing efficient public services.

He said the event should also be hosted in the Zambezi region, because of its significance as a trading point for Namibia.