Manufacturing holds the key

The manufacturing sector remains one of the key engines of economic growth, especially at this point in time when the local economy is battling to get out of recession. The Namibian government has prioritised manufacturing in terms of its industrialisation policy, including the realisation of Vision 2030. This national vision, which was adopted in 2004 and launched by Founding President Sam Nujoma, aims to transform the country by 2030, through building an economy that provides equal opportunities for all. Obviously, government has an important role to play in the economic activities of any nation, and it is essential that the welfare of citizens is not compromised by poor prioritisation and allocation of resources. Despite positioning herself to be one of the biggest recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the coming years, Namibia still faces major challenges and we are nowhere near where we want to be, especially considering the abundant natural resources in our country and continent at large. A Namibian Sun report recently castigated the authorities for not exploiting value-addition, given the exponential increase in the demand for raw materials globally. Our ‘Growth at Home’ strategy greatly emphasises the need to add value to our raw materials, securing market access at home and abroad, as well as the improvement of investment climate conditions. However, government’s “ongoing allegiance” to value extraction by foreign interests, at the expense of “inward” industrialisation, manufacturing and value-addition, does not augur well for our economy and our vision for 2030, which is barely 12 years away. The government’s N$7.8 billion development budget for 2018/19 is 24% higher than the previous year’s revised N$6.2 billion. The N$278 million in project funding for the extractive and industrial sectors is 25% below last year’s revised N$351 million figure, and the overall development budget contracted from 5.6% to 3.6%. Project funding for industrialisation programmes has diminished by 34% and fisheries by 46%, while the budget for mining and energy has gone up by 55%. It is thus critical that Namibia adopts new ways of investing in manufacturing and other critical industries, in order to stimulate growth and create much-needed jobs. Our massive reliance on imports is unsustainable.