EESE: Blueprint for sustainable business in Namibia

The Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises (EESE) report, an initiative of the Namibian Employers’ Federation (NEF) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), was launched last year.

In June 2007, the International Labour Conference (ILC) discussed the promotion of sustainable enterprises. This calls for the strengthening of the institutions and governance systems that nurture enterprises. Strong and efficient markets need strong and effective institutions.

Promoting sustainable enterprises is also about ensuring that human, financial and natural resources are combined equitably and efficiently in order to achieve innovation and enhanced productivity.

The conclusions reached at the 2007 ILC discussion identified 17 pillars for an environment conducive to the promotion of sustainable enterprises. The EESE report is based on these conclusions.

It analyses how Namibia performs with respect to each pillar, with the aim of assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of the enabling environment for sustainable enterprises and employment in the country.

The report was launched last year by the minister of labour, industrialisation and employment creation, Erkki Nghimtina.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Nghimtina said the programme with the ILO reflects the priorities and agreement of government and its social partners – employer representatives and workers.

“The challenge of maximising employment creation requires a deliberate coordinated approach across all sectors, which is currently lacking,” he said.

Measurable outcomes

According to Nghimtina, measurable outcomes and outputs of the programme will include facilitating the transition of youth from school to work. Skills development through internships and learn-ship programmes, as well as support for micro-enterprise development will be emphasised.

Other outcomes include the transition from the informal to the formal economy, sustainable enterprise development and an upgraded public employment service. Mainstreaming gender in planning for the labour market, the establishment of an appropriate coordination mechanism and funding for employment modalities will also feature.

Namibia last year also signed a new Decent Work Country programme with the ILO, with the promotion and coordination of employment as its first priority.

“The Decent Work Country Programme will be implemented in a coordinated manner across government ministries and between sectors in order to ensure that its goals are met,” Nghimtina said.

Report

Commenting on the EESE report, he thanked the Namibian Employers’ Federation (NEF) and the ILO for undertaking the survey to identify stakeholder perceptions of factors that are critical to the creation and maintenance of an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises.

“The EESE report, based primarily on perceptions of business owners and managers, but also including some employee perceptions, can make a positive contribution to policy formulation and the achievement of a prosperous Namibia,” Nghimtina said.

Pillars

The EESE methodology is based on 17 pillars that together measure the environment the country is creating to help or hinder sustainable enterprises. The pillars are political, economic, social, and environmental. The report analyses how Namibia performs with respect to each pillar, with the aim of assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of the enabling environment for sustainable enterprises and employment in Namibia.

The final results of the report - based on primary and secondary data, workshop discussions and a thorough literature review – indicate that there is space for improving the situation in all of the 17 pillars.

Three pillars were prioritised: enabling legal and regulatory environment, as well as education, training and lifelong learning, and an entrepreneurial culture.

Entrepreneurial culture should be fostered in Namibia and should be done primarily through education and skills development, according to the EESE report. There is a need to introduce secondary school curricula focusing on entrepreneurial culture, and to strengthen vocational training programmes to better target adult education.

The report also identified a need to simplify burdensome regulation and formalise a business. “It was found that municipalities and local authorities should be the primary actors involved in addressing these constraints, in particular because local languages should be used for communication and to convey key messages,” it states.

A action plan with specific outputs stemming from outcomes linked to priority areas and key players for action has been drafted by tripartite participants at a workshop in May last year.

Market Watch will take an in-depth look at the EESE report in a series of articles published on Mondays.