Namibia unemployment climbs to 51.2%

| Wednesday September 29, 2010 00:00

Government yesterday announced the results of the 2008 Namibia Labour Force Survey (NLFS) that confirmed the astronomical figure of 51.2 percent unemployment rate among the country's economically active population.The survey that is conducted every three years, aims at providing insight into the state of unemployment.

At 51.2 percent, Namibia joins the likes of Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the sub-region, countries whose unemployment rate has shot above the 50-percent mark, with Zimbabwe standing at 95 percent.

Botswana has the lowest unemployment rate in the SADC region at 7.5 percent (2007), while regional powerhouse, South Africa stands at 25 percent.

Yesterday, authorities seemed to have accepted the rising unemployment, with Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Immanuel Ngatjizeko, saying the onus was now on every Namibian to turn the tide against the problem.'The methodology used in the survey meets the international standards. Therefore, there should be no doubt about the accuracy of the 51.2 percent of the unemployment, in Namibia.

'It is a fact established by the survey that unemployment is high and everybody should use this figure to find strategies to reverse this current unemployment situation in the country,' warned Ngatjizeko.

Namibia's rising unemployment, which is despite a steady economic growth over the past years, has emerged as a serious challenge to the Namibian Government - two decades after the country attained self-rule.

The last official employment statistics released in 2004 revealed that the unemployment rate was hovering at 36 percent. Since then, the dearth of official unemployment data has resulted in industry kiting astronomical figures of more than 50 percent unemployment rate.

Although there is no consensus on the actual unemployment statistics, there is abundant evidence to prove empirically and theoretically that unemployment rate is high in Namibia. It is said to be among the highest in Southern African Custom Union (SACU) member states.

Of the other SACU states, Botswana has the lowest at 7.5 percent according to 2007 figures, while Namibia has 51.2 percent and South Africa has 25 percent.

The NLFS only covered populations living in private households, according to Ngatjizeko. This figure amounts to 894, 163 males and 940, 844 females, which represents a sex ratio of 90 males per 100 females.

'The 2008 NLFS finding therefore recorded unemployment rate in Namibia as 51.2 percent of the total labour force in a broad definition whereas 37.6 percent of the total labour force in strict definition,' said Ngatjizeko.

Among unemployed people in Namibia, there are those between the age group of 15-24 years. This age group is referred to as the youth and is the most affected by the unemployment situation, according to the survey.

Unemployment remains chronic despite Government bending over backwards to encourage investment in the minerals, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Evidently, an independent Namibia inherited a highly segmented labour market, with a major underlying factor being unequal access to education and, sometimes, total lack of access to education. A three percent average economic growth over the past years has not transformed into jobs for the country's youths, the majority in the country.

Namibian colleges churn out hundreds, if not thousands, of qualified graduates annually but their prospects of landing a job of their dreams are bleak. Either, they find themselves doing menial jobs or roaming the streets, exacerbating years of grinding poverty. The high unemployment rate has been blamed for the rising crime, anti-social behaviours such as prostitution and the rise in illegal drug trade and intakes.

According to the survey, factors that led to the high unemployment is the drastic fall in the agricultural sector due to the adverse weather changes, as a result of the global weather changing patterns, the global economic crises and the closing down of mining operations and some manufacturing industry. These factors contributed greatly to the high unemployment figure. (New Era)