Jobs: What is the strategy?
We have lambasted government on numerous occasions for not actively coming up with tangible action plans insofar as fixing our ailing economy is concerned.
For many years job creation in this country has been woefully off target and more and more Namibians are losing jobs at a larger scale than never before. Companies have been forced to unexpectedly shed jobs because of a poor performing economy and in the midst of the country slipping into a technical recession. Although government has ensured that there is money directly available to programmes that help the vulnerable, such as old-age pension payouts as well as other social grants, there are significant economic challenges prevailing at the moment. We are yet to see a comprehensive stimulus package aimed at reviving our economy. The actionable plans emphasising how the economy should be industrialised, including broad-based economic empowerment, are not yielding the necessary results. It is true that government has an important role to play in the economic activity of any nation, including by helping the private sector to create the bulk of jobs.
This must be accompanied by facilitative policies and an enabling environment. Therefore it is essential that the welfare of citizens is not compromised by the poor prioritisation and allocation of resources that tend to benefit only the elite. What this country needs is a national mass job creation project. And pumping money into the economy must be done in a responsible manner to avoid unnecessary wastage. Job creation projects must be in the best interest of all Namibians, and not just a selected few instant millionaire tenderpreneurs and foreign companies, who end up dominating these contracts.
This includes foreign firms bringing their own labour and equipment, at the expense of deserving locals. The approach to job creation must change for the better, if we are really serious about pushing for more reforms to improve our economy, which is not yet characterised by equitable benefit sharing in the midst of high levels of inequality.
For many years job creation in this country has been woefully off target and more and more Namibians are losing jobs at a larger scale than never before. Companies have been forced to unexpectedly shed jobs because of a poor performing economy and in the midst of the country slipping into a technical recession. Although government has ensured that there is money directly available to programmes that help the vulnerable, such as old-age pension payouts as well as other social grants, there are significant economic challenges prevailing at the moment. We are yet to see a comprehensive stimulus package aimed at reviving our economy. The actionable plans emphasising how the economy should be industrialised, including broad-based economic empowerment, are not yielding the necessary results. It is true that government has an important role to play in the economic activity of any nation, including by helping the private sector to create the bulk of jobs.
This must be accompanied by facilitative policies and an enabling environment. Therefore it is essential that the welfare of citizens is not compromised by the poor prioritisation and allocation of resources that tend to benefit only the elite. What this country needs is a national mass job creation project. And pumping money into the economy must be done in a responsible manner to avoid unnecessary wastage. Job creation projects must be in the best interest of all Namibians, and not just a selected few instant millionaire tenderpreneurs and foreign companies, who end up dominating these contracts.
This includes foreign firms bringing their own labour and equipment, at the expense of deserving locals. The approach to job creation must change for the better, if we are really serious about pushing for more reforms to improve our economy, which is not yet characterised by equitable benefit sharing in the midst of high levels of inequality.
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Namibian Sun
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