STAFF WRITER
PRESIDENT Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Monday said Namibia has set its sights on improving agriculture production, cutting out middle men from the procurement of medical drugs as well creating opportunities for the youth.
She was speaking at the launch of the National Development Plan 6 (NDP6), the last of the economic blueprint before the fading Vision 2030.
Nandi-Ndaitwah admitted that the industrialisation dream has fallen behind the target.
The NDP6 is premised on four pillars which are human development and community resilience, environmental sustainability and good governance and effective public service delivery.
The Government says to achieve this they must follow three strategies of Wealth Creation, Improved Equality
and Employment Creation.
“It must be pointed out that our unemployment rate is high because, among other drivers, our industrial capacity remains limited. It is for this reason that NDP6 aims to propel the country towards an advanced industrialised stage, placing due policy emphasis on mineral resources beneficiation and value-addition to stimulate economic growth and development.
“With the Namibian population currently just over 3 million people and expected to reach 3.5 million by 2030, predominantly young adults of working age. This Youth population presents an opportunity and not a burden for the Namibian economy,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
The NDP 6 document says Namibia has made commendable strides towards achieving national ideal of becoming a “Developed and Prosperous Nationˮ.
Part of the plan said Namibia achieved an average economic growth of 4.4 percent from 1990 to 2015.
According to the plan this has moved Namibia from a middle-income country to an upper-middle-income country since 2009, with per capita income increasing from US$1910 to ±US$4900 in 2015.
The plan said the economy grew from a seven billion Namibian Dollars GDP in 1990 to two hundred and forty-five billion Namibian Dollars GDP in 2024.
Nandi-Ndaitwah emphasized that her government will put priority in agriculture for sustenance and job creation.
“All nine (9) Green Schemes under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform (MAFWLR), covering a total of 5,600 hectares of irrigable land, remain operational. As of this
reporting period, 3,403 hectares are actively under cultivation, with harvesting currently underway-the aim is food security.m,” she said.
PRIORITISING AGRICULTURE
The President sais by June this year , Green Schemes produced 9,947 tonnes of maize, 300 tonnes of potatoes and 39 tonnes of sunflower.
“The identification of suitable land for the establishment of super farms has commenced, as well as selection of appropriate strategic partners to drive this initiative. The Government is in the process of operationalising the Uvhungu-Vhungu Dairy Farm in the Kavango East
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the decision by the World Bank to downgrade Namibia to a lower middle income country is an indication of the challenges faced due to high levels of income inequality.
A zoom into the plan also showed thatNamibia has reduced income inequality as represented by a Gini coefficient of 0.701 in 1993 to 0.697 in 2016.
“While the change is not significant, we are equally not content with the fact that Namibia is ranked the second unequal society in the world. During the NDP6 period, Namibia will delve deeply into the existing barriers inhibiting intended progress on this aspect,” the plan noted.
The NDP 6 also highlights challenges brought about by unemployment in the country.
“Improved government coordination remains indispensable in leveraging economic opportunities for investment, innovation, and diversification through
value addition, development of manufactured and high-end complex products, and facilitation of trade
both domestically and internationally,” part of the plan said.
RESOURCE OWNERSHIP
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the government will pursue active policies to enhance local participation in the mining industry in future.
“ln pursuit of increased national ownership and value addition, the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy (MIME) has started to develop a policy on mandatory minimum percentage local equity participation in all new mining ventures.
“Concurrently, efforts to legislate mineral beneficiation are being advanced with technical support from the African Development Bank’s African Legal Support Facility, which provides legal assistance to African Governments,” she said.
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