Is unemployment a crisis in Namibia?

Ndaindila A Namundjembo
The agony of someone who is looking for a job but cannot find one, no matter how hard they try, is heartbreaking. The feeling of not knowing where your next coin will come from and how you will pay your rent is very distressing, especially if you're not employed and have no hope of earning money through a salary or wages.

In these times of steeply rising inflation, one might get depressed after thinking of where to get money to buy basic necessities such as food.

Anxiety inevitably starts to creep in, and uncertainty about your future becomes inevitable.

Unemployment is defined by American author Tejvan Pettinger as "a situation in which someone of working age (18–59) is not able to find a job but would like to have or get one".

Unemployment is an economic condition where individuals actively seeking jobs are not able to find one.

Namibia is a small country but rich in mineral resources, yet the government is finding it hard to overcome the unemployment crisis.

Namibia is a small country but rich in mineral resources, yet the government is finding it hard to overcome the unemployment crisis. Despite the high rate of unemployment in Namibia, the rate has decreased by 0.6% from 2016 to 2018 (from 34% to 33.4%). The unemployment rate in Namibia, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency, averaged 27.94 from 1997 until 2008 reaching an all-time high of 37.6 in 2008 and a record low of 19.5 in 1997.

No hope

Moreover, we have seen how the unemployment rate is drastically increasing in Namibia. We have graduates with no jobs and no hope of getting one anytime soon. Earlier this year, more than 1 000 people flocked to a certain lounge in Windhoek, hoping to occupy 16 vacant posts.

Additionally, more than 60 000 people are hoping to be employed by the Namibia's Statistic Agency for the 2023 census, but only 13 000 temporary positions are available.

The government has tried to recruit some new members for the Namibian army, the Namibian police, and correctional officers, but this is still not enough to solve the unemployment crisis in Namibia.

The employment rate in Namibia is not decreasing; it is rising daily, and it is pointless to be sitting at home with your degree in finance refusing to be a cleaner simply because you’re waiting to be employed as a banker, which will never happen anytime soon, so grab that opportunity while waiting for your dream job.

I am suggesting that the government should consider building factories, including uranium and copper processing factories, and reduce the retirement rate to 55 (from 60) to curb the rise in unemployment. The government should also consider investing in Agriculture by getting land back (farms) from the white minority in Namibia and coming up with gardens.

I am also suggesting the revival of Ramatex so that our seamstresses can make use of that building to improve their skills and come up with something productive.

Unemployment is a crisis in Namibia, and we must do whatever is possible to overcome this crisis!

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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