Kavango East youth unemployment tops 60%

Youth unemployment in the Kavango East region has remained above 60%, far exceeding Namibia's national youth unemployment rate of 44.4%.

"Youth unemployment remains above 60%," regional governor Hamunyera Hambyuka said during his state of the region address on Friday. He described youth unemployment as one of the region's most urgent development challenges, despite continued investment in agriculture, infrastructure and entrepreneurship.

Hambyuka acknowledged that although government has rolled out several initiatives to improve employment prospects, job creation continues to lag behind the growing number of young people entering the labour market.

During the past financial year, 197 young people received vocational training at the Frans Dimbare Rural Youth Skills Training Centre, while 91 aspiring entrepreneurs completed business development training under the Namibia Youth Credit Scheme.

"We are committed to equipping our young people with the skills and support they need to build sustainable livelihoods," Hambyuka said.

The region also facilitated 183 applications to the National Youth Development Fund, although only five projects ultimately secured funding.

In an effort to tackle the worsening unemployment crisis, Hambyuka announced plans to establish a youth skills hub in each of the region's six constituencies during the current financial year. A further 340 young entrepreneurs are expected to receive financial support through the Namibia Youth Credit Scheme.

Structural hurdles

However, the governor warned that deep-rooted structural challenges continue to hamper economic growth and limit employment opportunities.

Among the most pressing concerns is a severe shortage of police officers. Kavango East has 1 324 approved police posts, but only 771 are filled, leaving 553 vacancies.

Police operations are further hampered by a shortage of vehicles, with 53 of the region's 93 vehicles currently grounded.

"Our police force is operating under significant constraints due to human resource shortages and limited operational resources," Hambyuka said.

He also highlighted staff shortages within the health directorate and the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy, saying the lack of personnel continues to undermine service delivery and support for businesses and investors.

Poor infrastructure remains another major obstacle to development.

Hambyuka said the absence of a Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa) office in Rundu continues to inconvenience entrepreneurs seeking to register businesses, while more than 10 villages in Mashare constituency remain without mobile network coverage.

He added that six constituency offices under the gender equality ministry operate without internet connectivity, forcing officials to travel to Rundu to process and submit documents.

Healthcare infrastructure has also suffered after a contractor abandoned the conversion of the old maternity ward at Rundu Intermediate Hospital into intensive care and dialysis units.

Other challenges identified by the governor include poor rural road infrastructure, ageing government vehicle fleets, delays in water and sewer infrastructure projects, procurement bottlenecks and limited financial resources.

Social issues

Hambyuka also raised concern over persistent social challenges, including teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, child marriage and malnutrition.

He further flagged recurring food poisoning incidents in schools and communities, saying their causes remain unknown and require urgent scientific research to identify the source and prevent future outbreaks.

"We cannot build a prosperous region while these social and developmental challenges continue to undermine the well-being of our people," he said.

Human-wildlife conflict, illegal fishing, timber harvesting and porous international borders also continue to threaten livelihoods and economic development across parts of the region.

Despite the challenges, Hambyuka said regional leadership remains committed to expanding economic opportunities through agriculture, enterprise development, infrastructure investment and youth empowerment programmes.

"We invite you to hold us accountable," he said, announcing plans to introduce a public scorecard system that will allow residents to monitor progress on key development commitments.