Vision 2030 to be reviewed
The National Planning Commission has announced that Namibia's grand plan to become an industrialised nation with a high income by the year 2030 needs to be reviewed.
In his budget motivation speech, National Planning Commission deputy minister Pieter van der Walt said it was time to pause and reflect on the achievements made so far towards realising the objectives of Vision 2030.
Vision 2030 was adopted in 2004.
In 2012, National Planning Commission minister Tom Alweendo said the economy needed to grow by 7% annually in order for Namibia to achieve Vision 2030.
Yet the average economic growth rate between 1990 and 2015 stands at 4.4%. The unemployment rate, which was expected to be 5% in 2030, now stands at 28%.
The NPC this week insisted that “a review of Vision 2030 is an important undertaking for Namibia to steer development initiatives towards the targets and aspirations of Vision 2030”.
Economist Omo Kakujaha-Matundu says since it has already been established that Vision 2030 is unattainable, it would be wise for government to look at extending the timeframe rather than just reviewing the policy.
“This is a tough one. We are just 11 years away from 2030. In that sense it is now an obsolete document because we will not be able to achieve its objectives in the current time frame,” he said.
Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah too is not convinced a review will change matters significantly unless the government looks at Vision 2030 as a target set for itself rather than a programme.
“The problem is not Vision 2030 but rather what we are doing towards achieving it. It would be a waste of resources if they are reviewing Vision 2030 as a programme. It is a target,” he said. He is not convinced that the government knows that it is doing and believes the review is yet another indication that the government is grasping at straws.
In an opinion piece published in 2013, Ndumba said the NPC's stewardship of this national vision was an epic failure and that Vision 2030 existed only on paper but not in practice.
“And if it does exist, there is no evidence on the ground suggesting that this grand initiative is being implemented successfully,” he wrote.
In 2017, political commentator Henning Melber was quoted by The Villager newspaper as saying that “not even another 20 or 30 years would change the nature of Vision 2030 as identifying remote goals based on illusions instead of proper assessments and planning.
“What has also been lacking is the political will to implement a socioeconomic policy, which would give the identified goals more priority than self-enrichment of a minority in control over the state and the economy.”
He also said that Vision 2030 should be shelved and acknowledged as “a vision motivated by the wishful thinking of the Founding Father”.
JEMIMA BEUKES
In his budget motivation speech, National Planning Commission deputy minister Pieter van der Walt said it was time to pause and reflect on the achievements made so far towards realising the objectives of Vision 2030.
Vision 2030 was adopted in 2004.
In 2012, National Planning Commission minister Tom Alweendo said the economy needed to grow by 7% annually in order for Namibia to achieve Vision 2030.
Yet the average economic growth rate between 1990 and 2015 stands at 4.4%. The unemployment rate, which was expected to be 5% in 2030, now stands at 28%.
The NPC this week insisted that “a review of Vision 2030 is an important undertaking for Namibia to steer development initiatives towards the targets and aspirations of Vision 2030”.
Economist Omo Kakujaha-Matundu says since it has already been established that Vision 2030 is unattainable, it would be wise for government to look at extending the timeframe rather than just reviewing the policy.
“This is a tough one. We are just 11 years away from 2030. In that sense it is now an obsolete document because we will not be able to achieve its objectives in the current time frame,” he said.
Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah too is not convinced a review will change matters significantly unless the government looks at Vision 2030 as a target set for itself rather than a programme.
“The problem is not Vision 2030 but rather what we are doing towards achieving it. It would be a waste of resources if they are reviewing Vision 2030 as a programme. It is a target,” he said. He is not convinced that the government knows that it is doing and believes the review is yet another indication that the government is grasping at straws.
In an opinion piece published in 2013, Ndumba said the NPC's stewardship of this national vision was an epic failure and that Vision 2030 existed only on paper but not in practice.
“And if it does exist, there is no evidence on the ground suggesting that this grand initiative is being implemented successfully,” he wrote.
In 2017, political commentator Henning Melber was quoted by The Villager newspaper as saying that “not even another 20 or 30 years would change the nature of Vision 2030 as identifying remote goals based on illusions instead of proper assessments and planning.
“What has also been lacking is the political will to implement a socioeconomic policy, which would give the identified goals more priority than self-enrichment of a minority in control over the state and the economy.”
He also said that Vision 2030 should be shelved and acknowledged as “a vision motivated by the wishful thinking of the Founding Father”.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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