Economic policy a hindrance to job creation – Sherbourne

Independent economist Robin Sherbourne says Namibia has not crafted conducive policies to spur job creation and argues that industries such as green hydrogen, oil and gas are not viable vehicles for mass job creation.

Sherbourne made these comments during a recent discussion on the economy in light of Namibia’s 33.4% unemployment rate.

He said small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while key to job creation, are also not adequately included in the policy space to encourage job creation.

“This [unemployment] should be addressed – why have we not been able to do that? The answer is we have not implemented the policies necessary to create employment because we are not stimulating SMEs that create jobs,” he stressed.

Sherbourne further argued that Namibia has not been able to create employment opportunities for its citizens on a large scale since independence.

“It’s about employment creation; we have not managed to achieve that in over 30 years, and now we do not even bother measuring job creation,” Sherbourne said of efforts to track whether Namibia's is making strides to create jobs.

Green jobs

Turning his attention to the nascent green hydrogen and oil and gas industries, he said while he was confident it would create jobs, the scale of new jobs would not be to the expected magnitude.

“Green hydrogen and oil and gas, they will create some jobs but not many. We need the broad mass of the economy growing,” Sherboune said.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) focused on addressing Namibia’s unemployment issues in a 2023 policy document.

Among the NPC’s recommendations were that the government encourage and support small businesses and help create opportunities for self-employment. This could be achieved through the provision of materials needed by the youth to set up businesses, as well as through mentorship, the NPC noted.