Startups,
Not Foreign Investors by
Ndumba
J Kamwanyah (http://www.namibian.com.na/46994/read/Startups-Not-Foreign-Investors)
I‘
d like to take the column “Indepth“ as a trigger to scrutinise
economic ideas floating in the Namibian intellectual space. The fact
that a respected economic expert comes
up with a recommendation like this shows that the discussion about
the economic improvement is in dire straits. His general assumption:
“that
reducing poverty through employment requires that we do the
following: 1) generate employment opportunities, and 2) increase the
employability of those seeking jobs“ seems
very outdated to me. This
is an idea of the 19.th
and 20th
century.
Namibia tried to create jobs by attracting foreign investors and
mainly by expanding the public service. The foreign investors
approach didn’t work (remember Ramatex). The public service can
only do so much. Job
creation is not happening.
Startups
would do nothing. They require clever business ideas and lots of
capital. Both are not around. The women selling oshikundu and the
kapana boys are not pregnant with potential and can’t be bothered
with that. The banks and the well-offs invest their money in foreign
businesses to get their margins. The business acumen of Namibians is
modeled after the wisdom of the initial gold diggers: get rich fast
and effortless. As long as connections, corruption and fraud are the
way to get a house in Ludwigsdorf no-one will venture in a startup.
The fact is Namibia has no business acumen at all. The government has
no clue how to run an economy, except for asking for donations. It
wasted the last 26 years by watching what was going on, instead of acting.
The
elite of businessmen have rarely skills exceeding kuka shop level and
the labour force is generally unemployable because of a lack of
labour ethics. The population has no purchasing power beyond millie
meal and toilet paper.
In
a globalised neoliberal world on the brink of industry 4.0, where
robots take over many blue and white collar jobs the crucial question
is how can Africans fit in there.
I
agree with Kamwanyah
that
the solution lies at home. Firstly
there needs to be purchasing power in Namibia. That could be achieved
with a generous BIG and
minimum wages that allow a decent life.
Economic progress is not the result of hoped
for
job creation, but eradication of poverty will result in economic
progress and job creation. The
GRN has to think in radical categories to make a difference. The
ideas of yesteryear are useless. I’
d wish the
line ministry would invest more in fresh ideas and experimentation
than in PR stunts like Vision 2030 and NDP4. Academia must research
economic strategies for the local environment instead of warming up
decade old ideas from the West. Namibians
need a change of mentality to succeed: from only looking good to
achieving results.
