Rural livelihoods risk stagnation as tombo drives village economies - Venaani

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani has warned that Namibia’s rural economy risks stagnation unless urgent steps are taken to stimulate economic growth in these areas.

Speaking in the National Assembly during a debate on the Appropriation Bill last week, Venaani said trade in home-brewed alcohol, or tombo, sustains many villages rather than meaningful development.

He added that rural communities remain economically dormant, with limited employment and enterprise opportunities beyond subsistence farming and the sale of tombo.

“In many villages, when people wake up in the morning, the only economic activity is going to drink traditional alcohol,” Venaani said.

The PDM leader argued that Namibia must urgently rethink ways to stimulate rural economies and create meaningful opportunities to address entrenched poverty and unemployment.

“We need to turn around the rural economy to be productive,” he said.

Venaani urged government to explore ways to integrate rural property into the formal property regime to stimulate economic activity and empower residents financially.

“Your house in Windhoek is worth millions and can be used to get a loan, but the same house built in the rural areas has no collateral value,” he pointed out.

While acknowledging government’s continued investment in social sectors such as education and health, Venaani stressed that economic reforms are necessary if Namibia hopes to address unemployment.

A clear strategy needed

Venaani warned that Namibia’s oversized civil service limits the country’s ability to invest in development and growth.

“We must also agree that without reforming a very large civil service, the money that we spend on salaries is needed for services that we have, but the country cannot afford to develop with a very large civil service,” Venaani said.

He suggested that the state explore ways to gradually transition some civil servants into entrepreneurship and industry to stimulate private sector growth.

“Let’s create 1 000 new business people, and say you are in the civil service, but in the next three years we don’t want you to be here – we want you to go and start industry,” he proposed.

He further questioned whether Namibia has a clear national strategy for industrialisation, arguing that the country must define which sectors it wants to prioritise to create jobs and grow the economy.

“We are talking about industrialisation, but we don’t have a direction in which areas this country wants to industrialise,” he said.

Potential underutilised

Venaani called for large-scale agricultural industrialisation to revitalise rural economies and create jobs for young people.

He said Namibia does not fully utilise the potential of its perennial rivers, including the Kunene, Kavango, Zambezi and Orange Rivers, which could support irrigation-based farming and agro-processing industries.

Neighbouring countries have moved faster in developing irrigation agriculture, while Namibia’s approach remains too limited, he argued.

“Our agricultural thinking is only based on the green schemes that are doing well, but green schemes are too parochial to transform agriculture in this country. That is just a start,” Venaani said.

Venaani said the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) pension savings should be used more strategically to support local investment and development projects rather than being tied up in foreign ventures.

“GIPF money is being borrowed by foreign companies that spend it outside the country, while our people are left without access to these funds for productive projects here at home. We must ensure that our pension funds contribute to building industries, creating jobs, and empowering Namibians,” he said.

Be bolder

Venaani pointed to Mauritius and Uganda as achieving growth rates above 5%, while Namibia has struggled to consistently exceed 3% in recent years.

“When we debate the budget, we must ask ourselves: why are we not growing faster? What new ideas, what bold initiatives can we implement to improve our economy and give Namibians a better future?” Venaani said.

Venaani urged all lawmakers across the political divide to elevate the quality of debate in parliament and work collectively to find solutions.

“Let’s all have differences on supporting or not supporting, but let’s have unanimity on what needs to be done so that we take our country from level A to level B to level C. We owe it to our people, to our youth, and to future generations to act with vision and purpose,” he said.