… more than 1.8 million citizens eligible for employment
TIRI MASAWI
Namibia only has 15 000 registered employers at a time when the country is reeling with rising unemployment figures.
According to an analysis done by Cirrus Capital Co-Founder Rowland Brown the 15 000 possible employers are expected to absorb about 1 876 122 people of working age in Namibia – a situation that signals a crisis.
Brown’s assertions come at a time the Namibia Statistics Agency says joblessness in the Khomas Region has reached a record 66.5 percent, with 118 202 people either unemployed or on the margins of the labour market.
The revelations are contained in the Khomas 2023 Census Regional Profile released in Windhoek on Tuesday.
NSA Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni explained that out of a working-age population of over 352 147 in Khomas, 225 223 people are economically active, while 77 423 are unemployed translating to an official unemployment rate of 34.4 percent.
“ Namibia has just ~15,000 employers, which is a blatant crisis of employers.
Employers create jobs, which generate incomes to households, taxes to government and similar. As heartless as it seems to focus on the business climate while huge numbers of people are unemployed and suffering, the business climate is at the root of the issue and any sane person who wants to fix the outcome should focus on the underlying issue,” Brown said.
Brown added, “ Unfortunately, this is often lost on people who think policy should focus on redistribution, more government control etc. This is anti-investor/employer, and fundamentally undermines the desired outcome of more employers and more employment.”
Brown suggested a business climate reform to deal with the challenges of a shrinking job market at a time demand for jobs is rising especially among the youth.
“Unfortunately, non-experts are rather pushing for centralised sector picking, as well as self-serving redistributive policy under the guise of “empowerment”.
“Those who suffer the consequences of a difficult business climate most are the unemployed and the marginal businesses who can’t keep afloat due to additional tax and non-tax business costs. These are not wealthy foreigners, but Namibians,” he siad..
Brown added that, “We need to change. Our problems are trivial, and we can hit full employment quickly if we reform the business climate, attract investment and stop trying to manage the economy from on-high. More employment is vital for human development. Pro-business reform is thus not at all heartless, but the most important reform any conscientious Namibian could advocate for.”
According to NSA about 40 779 people in Khomas region are classified as potential labour force entrants, meaning they are not currently working but could enter the job market if conditions improve.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FUTURE MEDIA
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