EDITORIAL: Closing borders won’t build African giants
Namibia must build giant manufacturers who can compete on the continental stage and government ministers need to stop the “buy local” mantra.
While such calls may sound patriotic, they reveal a troubling misunderstanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AfCFTA is not about retreating behind borders but about tearing them down to allow African producers to compete and prosper across a continental marketplace of 1.3 billion people.
Leaders who look inwards defy the very spirit of African unity that the free trade pact represents.
The truth is that protectionism does not necessarily transform local manufacturers into billionaires. Shielding producers from competition may offer temporary comfort, but rarely drives innovation, efficiency or growth.
What Namibian businesses need to build wealth is exposure. Namibian products must stand side by side with South African, Kenyan or Ghanaian goods on the same shelves where the discipline of quality and competitiveness emerges.
Namibia risks creating fragile businesses unable to survive outside the artificial cocoon of state procurement if ministers insist that government stores only buy local.
The government must, however, support local industries in meeting continental standards through improved infrastructure, financing, skills development and quality assurance, enabling them to compete in Lagos, Accra or Cairo with the same confidence as in Windhoek.
The real promise of AfCFTA lies in opening doors, not closing them.
Local producers will only generate transformative wealth when their goods cross borders and reach new markets. Ministers must stop preaching narrow nationalism and instead adopt a wider, continental vision. Only then will African industries move from surviving in protected corners to thriving in the open, creating wealth and jobs on a scale that matches the true spirit of African unity.
While such calls may sound patriotic, they reveal a troubling misunderstanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AfCFTA is not about retreating behind borders but about tearing them down to allow African producers to compete and prosper across a continental marketplace of 1.3 billion people.
Leaders who look inwards defy the very spirit of African unity that the free trade pact represents.
The truth is that protectionism does not necessarily transform local manufacturers into billionaires. Shielding producers from competition may offer temporary comfort, but rarely drives innovation, efficiency or growth.
What Namibian businesses need to build wealth is exposure. Namibian products must stand side by side with South African, Kenyan or Ghanaian goods on the same shelves where the discipline of quality and competitiveness emerges.
Namibia risks creating fragile businesses unable to survive outside the artificial cocoon of state procurement if ministers insist that government stores only buy local.
The government must, however, support local industries in meeting continental standards through improved infrastructure, financing, skills development and quality assurance, enabling them to compete in Lagos, Accra or Cairo with the same confidence as in Windhoek.
The real promise of AfCFTA lies in opening doors, not closing them.
Local producers will only generate transformative wealth when their goods cross borders and reach new markets. Ministers must stop preaching narrow nationalism and instead adopt a wider, continental vision. Only then will African industries move from surviving in protected corners to thriving in the open, creating wealth and jobs on a scale that matches the true spirit of African unity.
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Namibian Sun
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