Time To Grow

Open letter to the Prime Minister IT is now time for the Namibian economy to grow.

However, this will not happen overnight. We should learn from the achievements of other small nations such as Finland, which has numerous universities for its 5 million people and is also home to the largest cellphone maker in the world thanks to innovations nurtured by its engineering faculties.This policy of growth goes hand in hand with upgrading our university and schools.The key to growth is Government spending on higher education and infrastructure.Namibia must have a university that offers all the different engineering and science fields if it wants to have locally trained people who can build local factories and labs designed for Namibia.There will never be enough home-grown talent if every professional has to be trained in South Africa.The sheer distance and cost of studying in SA prevents there being enough graduates in vital professional careers.Secondly, the university needs to produce our own doctors, engineers, and chartered accountants to reduce the current shortage in the country.No economy has ever developed without a fully equipped university that supports research and development.The university must produce professional chartered accountants, chartered quantity surveyors, architects, lawyers, engineers and doctors for Namibia to be able to create and maintain a manufacturing base.In the initial years it will be necessary to import lecturers for these professional degrees from South Africa and Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe has many trained professionals who are more than capable of training Namibians in Windhoek.And they would be more than willing to move to Namibia where they can enjoy a good stable economy.The time has come for the awakening of Namibia’s economy through education.South Africa’s economic growth is a direct consequence of its professional universities educating the minds of tomorrow.Namibia must prioritise a proper university.Now that the State House is finished, at least N$1 billion should be put into building Unam into a proper university.Experts should come from the University of Cape Town and Wits University to help with the planning of the whole university.It will be expensive but the benefits will stay for many generations.Helao Nafidi Via e-mailWe should learn from the achievements of other small nations such as Finland, which has numerous universities for its 5 million people and is also home to the largest cellphone maker in the world thanks to innovations nurtured by its engineering faculties.This policy of growth goes hand in hand with upgrading our university and schools.The key to growth is Government spending on higher education and infrastructure.Namibia must have a university that offers all the different engineering and science fields if it wants to have locally trained people who can build local factories and labs designed for Namibia.There will never be enough home-grown talent if every professional has to be trained in South Africa.The sheer distance and cost of studying in SA prevents there being enough graduates in vital professional careers.Secondly, the university needs to produce our own doctors, engineers, and chartered accountants to reduce the current shortage in the country.No economy has ever developed without a fully equipped university that supports research and development.The university must produce professional chartered accountants, chartered quantity surveyors, architects, lawyers, engineers and doctors for Namibia to be able to create and maintain a manufacturing base.In the initial years it will be necessary to import lecturers for these professional degrees from South Africa and Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe has many trained professionals who are more than capable of training Namibians in Windhoek.And they would be more than willing to move to Namibia where they can enjoy a good stable economy.The time has come for the awakening of Namibia’s economy through education.South Africa’s economic growth is a direct consequence of its professional universities educating the minds of tomorrow.Namibia must prioritise a proper university.Now that the State House is finished, at least N$1 billion should be put into building Unam into a proper university.Experts should come from the University of Cape Town and Wits University to help with the planning of the whole university.It will be expensive but the benefits will stay for many generations.Helao Nafidi Via e-mail