Namibia: Emerging better, stronger

Jo-Maré Duddy – Namibia might be facing its toughest economic challenges since independence, but the country has “tremendous potential to become the gateway to Africa”, stimulating immense growth.

To unlock this untapped potential, policy certainty holds the key, says the president of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), Sven Thieme.

Although he describes the reality of the ongoing recession worsened by the Covid-19 crisis as “exceeding anyone’s wildest imagination”, Thieme believes Namibia can become a working nation.

“Sustainable jobs is a factor of demand and supply: if labour is able to meet the requirements of the market, employment increases,” he says.

Crucial though is that Namibians’ skills evolve to meet the demand for innovation, creativity, flexibility, agility and all the other aspects required for business to thrive in these uncertain times, the veteran business leader adds.

Ramping up to the new normal

Thieme, also the executive chairman of Ohlthaver & List, thinks Namibians too are starting to follow the international trend to think outside the box to pull through the global crisis.

“As the saying goes, never let a good crisis go to waste – and I believe that some of this is happening here too,” he says.

Digital innovation, challenging the norms and working smartly have all taken off locally, Thieme elaborates.

He however cautions: “There is a need to increase the rate of adoption to new ways of working and innovation as Namibia needs to finds its place in the new normal and what that would mean for us to prosper as a nation.”

“Prosperity will be difficult to achieve if we do not expedite innovation and new ways of thinking and doing,” Thieme emphasises.

Toughest of times

Commenting on the prevailing economic landscape, Thieme says while businesses had to endure the effects of a prolonged economic downturn, many were hanging in there, believing in an eventual upswing.

“However, this never happened. In fact, the opposite happened with Covid-19 adding a tremendous economic slump at a time where many were already hanging on for survival.”

According to Thieme, many business have already depleted all their reserves and have accumulated large debts. Survival “unfortunately” required that businesses take out cost – with labour being one of the areas negatively impacted, he adds.

“Nobody wants to lay off their employees,” Thieme says.

“After all, these are the people with whom you build your business, that you invest in and who you care about. But when it becomes a matter of letting some go to secure a future, or closing shop and creating no employment, the choice becomes clear.”

Labour trinity

Asked about the prevailing relationship between government, employers and unions, Thieme says: “There is a view that the labour law favours the employee and that a more balanced employment environment may contribute to business sustainability and employment.”

“That said, we are privileged in Namibia to have generally good relations amongst these stakeholders where open dialogue, honesty and trust can in most cases deliver results that are in the interest of all parties,” he adds.

How does a country navigate a landscape rife with retrenchments, salary and wage cuts and other compromises?

According to Thieme: “When good relationships are fostered amongst the stakeholders, and there is mutual respect, honesty, trust and an alignment in terms of purpose, challenges can be overcome in the best interest of all parties.”

It is crucial that employers, government and unions come together now in the interest of the economy and the country as a whole.

“This should be happening as we speak,” Thieme says.

“Imagine the impact when a business going through extreme difficulty is able to engage with employees and unions to find ways of navigating through these tough times together as opposed to the impact when consensus on doing this cannot be reached, and employees being retrenched?”

Creating jobs

“At this stage policy certainty is a good starting point,” Thieme answered the question on what the private sector needs from government to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

“Added to this, is the opportunity of targeted economic stimulus following closer collaboration between government and private sector whereby key opportunities for economic growth are unlocked by a supportive policy environment,” he adds.

Commenting on the private sector’s ability to create more jobs and stimulate economic growth, Thieme says: “By virtue of the role of private sector being to optimise resources in the delivery of profits, it goes without saying that there is an element of efficiency, innovation, creativity and the like required to continue doing so.”

According to him, this begs the question: “What resources could the private sector optimise for the greater good of the Namibian economy?”

Namibia’s fish resources is a good example, he believes.

“The private sector would increase investment in this industry amidst a favourable policy environment that is transparent and facilitates long-term planning,” Thieme says. In return, this could deliver reliable and consistent revenue to enable government to achieve its development objectives.

Thieme believes Namibia can learn from other emerging markets who have overcome the risks associated with beyond border trade. This was achieved through support by these countries’ governments, which have facilitated the establishment of scalable local businesses, he says.

“Namibian business’ consumer base could be expanded through bilateral trade agreements facilitating access to markets and tax concessions reducing the cost of business and enhancing our competitive advantage – all to the benefit of local employment,” Thieme says.