Time to counsel councils

• DANNY MEYER ERADICATING poverty is high on the country’s agenda and there is no disagreement that the scourge must be tackled, but how this will be done remains unclear. Is it going to be by way of handouts or in another form?

Reportedly, the strategy will soon be unveiled and the nation waits with bated breath.

Businesses and factories create jobs, provide monthly incomes and fuel the development of a town. They provide a municipality with the ability to generate revenue to fund infrastructure development and importantly, to cover the cost of maintenance thereof. So hopefully local economic development (LED) forms part of the poverty eradication plan.

Working in smaller urban centres is an eye-opener. Within a few days of arrival one gains an impression of the business and investor friendliness of the town’s leadership and municipal officials. Taking a look at the town’s website, if one or an updated version of one even exists, serves as a source of encouragement or as a dampener.

Potential to grow exists in most towns, even the marginal ones off the beaten track. This leads one to wonder at times if municipalities are blinkered, stuck in a groove and oblivious to the opportunities on offer.

There are two sides to a story, so support from other quarters or the lack thereof might be a LED inhibitor. Absence of support for a town’s municipality by public and private sector stakeholders, including national government, business sector representative bodies, labour or trade unions and the local community itself could be that blockage.

Nationally and beyond Namibia’s borders Gibeon is less known as a thriving town and more as the place where the largest shower of extraterrestrial bodies ever landed on earth. In those prehistoric times the Gibeon meteorite crashed over a 275 km long and 100 km wide area.

Touring the village where the Rhenish first established a mission station soon reveals Gibeon’s rich culture and history. Renamed Khaxa-tsûs by Kido Witbooi the first leader or kaptein of the |Khowesin people, when he arrived there with his followers circa 1850, the village retains and is still known by its biblical name, Gibeon.

Of the Namibians born in Gibeon, Hendrik Witbooi and Gerhard Karl Hans Tötemeyer are best known. A church leader and educationalist, Witbooi was the seventh kaptein of the |Khowesin clan and served as Namibia’s first deputy prime minister from 1995 to 2004.

Tötemeyer, born of missionary parents had an interesting childhood and has an impressive academic record. He is a professor emeritus and a politician, who served as a deputy minister in Namibia for four years up to his retirement in 2004.

The initiative to fell prosopis trees in and around Gibeon holds promises in terms of wealth and job creation. Imported into Namibia the prosopis has spread like wildfire and environmentalists say the trees must be removed or controlled from spreading, before causing irreversible harm.

From a business perspective tourism holds equally important potential. But first decaying and dilapidated historical buildings will have to be restored. In parallel, investment enticed to establish camping and accommodation facilities, eateries, shops and supportive tourism services.

Like many other local authorities Gibeon must relook and polish its LED strategy. The village must promote and even facilitate business partnerships between investors and the local community in the form of joint ventures. Identify and then encourage the use of local resources and skills.

Towns at a standstill must adopt a more flexible approach and swiftly respond to investment enquiries. Commit to develop infrastructure and adopt a welcoming attitude that promotes entrepreneurship. Bottom line is to market the town, its business opportunities and its people.

* Social entrepreneur Danny Meyer can be reached at danny@smecompete.com.

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