Namibia to prioritise youth, women owned businesses

STAFF WRITER

Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare has called for the creation of a sustainable industrial ecosystem that involves collaboration between the government, private sector, including Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with a special focus on those owned by women and the youth.

He was speaking at the ongoing Tokyo International Conference of African Development-Economic Pillar on Thursday.

“Let us continue to share expertise, best practices, and resources that can enhance our capacity to build sustainable and inclusive economic growth, including the transfer of technology as enshrined in the Doha mandate of the Multilateral Trading System. 

“We believe that to effectively harness this potential, we must transition from our traditional resource-based economies to more diverse, innovation-driven industries that can sustain long-term growth and development,” he said.

Ngurare said  Namibia dreams of an Africa where guns are silenced, children and their mothers go to bed without fear of waking up dead or abducted, and hunger is a distant memory. 

“An Africa where the green revolution replaces youth unemployment, and where food surpluses and agri-business become the norm, a daily song. An industrialised Africa where Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are not just automotive reference points, but an Africa where Japanese and African intellectual property collaborate to shape Africa’s destiny, spearheaded by the youthful population through joint Japanese and African technology,” he said. 

The Prime Minister called for mutual partnerships between Japanese and -African youth that will create sustainable jobs and economic growth.

“let us continue to walk the talk as Africans in the areas of youth empowerment, rural development, informal settlement development, and genuine economic empowerment at the household level. We must ensure that every action has a human face. Investing in Africa’s blue economy must create much-needed connectivity through ports infrastructure, air, road, railway and digital networks for economic growth from Cape to Cairo, from Mombasa to Praia. Let us make it easy for every African to move within Africa,”Ngurare said 

According to Ngurare Namibia’s National Development Plan 6, TICAD and the African Continental Free Trade Area lay a foundation to create  bold partnerships and cooperation that confront the existing trade challenges for mutual benefit. We can do it.

 “let us foster people-to-people partnerships (Japan and African Countries), equipping our youth with the necessary knowledge and skills to thrive in an ever-changing global economy. We must leverage technology to drive innovation and create new opportunities for our youth. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to collaboration and innovation to create a brighter future for our citizens,” he said.