Economics

Three main products that are significant to the growth and development of my economy Namibia

Introduction
Our President Honourable Hifikepunye Pohamba, thank you for this opportunity to give you my advice on which three products I believe are significant to the growth and development of our economy Namibia. We must allocate our scarce resources in the society effectively to get the maximum benefits from these resources because resources are limited while human needs are unlimited. Natural resources are materials that come from Earth. Water, air, trees, minerals, and land are all examples of natural resources. Human resources are the people who make goods or provide services. Human resources also include a workers knowledge of the task that must be done. A persons work experience, skills, and training are also part of human resources. Capital resources are the machines, tools, and technology needed to produce goods and services. To mention which products are significant to the growth of my economy (Namibia), I had to have a clear understanding of which type of economy Namibia follows. The Namibian economy has a modern market sector, which produces most of the country's wealth, and a traditional subsistence sector. The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Taxes and royalties from mining account for 25% of its revenue. The Namibian economy has 3 main sectors; Mining and energy, Fishing and Manufacturing and Infrastructure. Mining contributed 12.4% to GDP in 2007, of which diamond mining activities represented 5%. The fishing sector has the potential for sustainable yields of 1.5 million metric tons per year. Commercial fishing and fish processing is the fastest-growing sector of the Namibian economy in terms of employment, export earnings, and contribution to GDP. Namibia's manufacturing sector contributed about 20% of GDP in 2000. Namibian manufacturing is inhibited by a small domestic market, dependence on imported goods, limited supply of local capital, widely dispersed population, small skilled labor force and high relative wage rates, and subsidized competition from South Africa. Therefore the three products I from my point of view as a professional engineer that is significant to the growth and development of our economy are;

1.Jobs/Skilled workers (Human resource)

One of the reasons why the Namibian economy is not yet developed is because of the high unemployment rate. Strict unemployment" (people actively seeking a full time job) stood at 20.2% in 1999, 21.9% in 2002 and spiraled to 29,4 per cent in 2008. Under a broader definition (including people that have given up searching for employment) unemployment rose from 36.7% in 2004 to 51.2% in 2008. This estimate considers people in the informal economy as employed. 72% of jobless people have been unemployed for two years or more. Therefore Job is a scarce resource in Namibia. But why are Jobs scarce and what can we do about it to improve the Namibian economy? Well, Jobs are scarce in Namibia because we lack skilled workers, and we lack skilled workers because of a lot of people are not educated to the level that they are required to do the Job well. Therefore I believe that Education is the way to go about solving this problem, and not just the ordinal education that has been served for the past few years but quality education that will ensure that all Namibians get the knowledge and skills required to do the Job.

In order to get the best Education for all, all Namibian schools need, more computers with access to the internet, more text books, as well as highly skilled teachers. Namibia could also benefit from more training institutes for those that are not able to make it to the Universities and career workshops for learners in schools, to direct them on which skilled workers lack the most in Namibia, teach them leadership skills from a young age and just to tell them the importance of education. Education is a fundamental determinant not only of health, demographic trends, and individual income, but also of a countrys aggregate level of economic growth. It is true that in the past years since Namibia got independence, we have witnessed a rapid expansion of higher education which is a good thing, and it should not slow down but must continue to expand even more. Investing in education provides a clear boost to economic development. For Namibia, more and better education should become the top priority because it empowers the people to help themselves and thus helps to improve governance and to reduce corruption. A concerted effort for much more primary and secondary education combining national and international forces would appear to be the most promising route out of poverty and toward sustainable development. Education, particularly womens education, has the potential to play a key role in the achievement of more sustainable development in Namibia. Women with higher levels of educational attainment almost universally have fewer children than women with lower levels of education. The fertility of well-educated women is low, whereas for less-educated women, fertility is high. Without strong government supported family planning programs, fertility decreases only where population groups have passed a certain developmental threshold that makes them desire fewer children and better opportunities for those they have. Education, it seems, is the key factor in this process. Better education also results in better health for mothers and children because of better access to crucial information and health care. Educated women are more likely to receive antenatal care than women with no education. In essence, being educated has significant health advantages for both adults and children. Higher rates of female education, coupled with renewed family planning efforts, could prove crucial in slowing a population growth rate, which at present places undue stress on existing infrastructure and natural resources. Education is the key policy variable that in tandem with reproductive health services can reduce poverty, improve health, and help people move beyond the current state of emergency. Through Education, Namibians will have access to the world of technology which is growing very fast, and this will help Namibias development in its Economy in the sense that technology brings the tools of empowerment into the hands and minds of those who use them. With technology we make stronger, more powerful tools and machines that do more jobs with less work and resources and the pleasure of luxuries. Technology is a ubiquitous part of our lives. Through education, we can accomplish a lot, but most importantly produce our own skilled workers to do the job. Job is a serious scarce resource in Namibia so if we can improve on it, we are one step closer to a developed Namibia. Conclusion Human resources are the people( their skills and knowledge )who make goods or provide services, and the country can invest in it, or put money into, their human resources by training their workers or paying for

them to get more education. In return, workers are expected to be more knowledgeable, skilful, and productive. We need Engineers, Doctors, Actors, teachers, chefs, lawyers, etc. for our economy to grow and develop.

2.Infrastructures (Capital Resource)

Another reason why the Namibian economy is not yet developed is because of a lack of Infrastructure in Namibia. By Infrastructure I refer not only to the buildings, but also the equipment, machinery, ports, dams, roads, trucks, good irrigation systems ,bridges, railways, water treatment plants, schools, hospitals and other manufactured and constructed things that are used over and over again to produce goods and service. We lack a lot of infrastructure in Namibia. Namibia needs infrastructure because infrastructure consists of the basic support systems needed to keep an economy going. The better the infrastructure, the more developed the country. Infrastructure is used as an input that will raise productivity and output and deliver economic growth. Investment in infrastructure has the additional benefits of helping to close the income gap and reducing poverty because low-income countries and areas will have a better chance of generating higher economic activities when infrastructure is available. Infrastructure development can connect the agricultural and poorer areas to urban and economic growth hubs, which will enable the former to market their products and receive their economic needs at reasonable prices. To mention a few of the scarce infrastructure we Namibians need to invest more in are; more Hospitals around the country, more schools and Universities, Houses for the poor, transportation (more tar roads), electricity in rural areas and more factories and Industries. We need more hospitals because they serve to care for the health of people and the health of the people is very important because healthy people are more productive. A country with good health rates has low Infant mortalities, low death rates high life expectancy which are all good measures of a countrys economy. Having more hospitals around Namibia means people who had to travel long distances to hospitals and usually die on the way are now closer which is safer. Hospitals fees should also be affordable and reasonable for the people. Transportation and energy projects are an effective way for development to reach the poorer regions of Namibia. In rural areas, an inadequate and unstable power supply, inefficient transport systems, poorquality roads, and unreliable communications systems raise transaction costs, curtail productivity, and often render investments unviable. Transport and energy supply improvements have been shown to reduce poverty in rural areas. Improvements in transport are associated with falling costs; increased income from agriculture; increased access to employment, education health, and social participation. More tar roads because they provide better traction and skid resistance for vehicles and because vehicles consume less fuel when they travel on tar road compared to travelling on gravel roads. Gravel roads shorten the life of a vehicle because of all the bumps and can be dangerous during rainy seasons because they get slippery. Our aim is to make sure our roads are safe for the people. Investment in energy infrastructure can increase access to electricity to support the increasing population. Increased electrification of rural areas helps to reduce poverty and helps the area move closer to achieving Development. Rural populations benefit from the reduced energy costs, increased farming activity, better

quality of education and health services, increased flow of information, and improved security that all come from rural electrification. If we invest in our own factories and industries, we can increase the total income of our country because the profits made are part of our GDP and factories also reduce the high unemployment rate. In factories, we produce machinery and equipment, meaning we do not have to export them. For our country Namibia to grow and develop, it is important that we open up trade with other countries. But for trade to work, governments must have the physical and governmental infrastructure, production capacity and technical skills to take advantage of the market opening opportunities which arise from trade opening. Conclusion Capital resources are the machines, tools, and technology needed to produce goods and services. It's difficult to sell product if you lack transportation. It's hard for people to be productive if they don't have access to education, safe drinking water, and so on. Therefore Infrastructure is an important part of a countrys strategy in growth and development.

3.Agricultural land (Natural resource)

The third product that I believe can help the growth and development the Namibian economy is agricultural land. Agricultural land is a Natural resource where Individuals can produce for their immediate families and farmers can produce for a region or nation at large usually for market purposes. It is important when producing, that we should always strive for quality products, because they last longer and compliment the living standards of living organisms. If agriculture contributes 4.1% of GDP (2010) and around 70% of the total population in Namibia depends upon agricultural sectors then it should strengthen its Agricultural sector, Namibia has the ability to grow Cabbage, Grapes, Hay, Tobacco, Vegetables such as cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, squash, tomatoes and broccoli because it has the necessary resources, and a well grazing for farming. What is missing is the basis to do this; the necessary plantation and skilled workers. We need to produce this in massive amounts, enough for the whole consumption in Namibia and exportation, so that we stop importing from other countries. Namibia should see to it that it invests in this sector because it can create an additional average growth to the country. Agriculture is an absolute necessity, producing the basic human needs of food and clothing. To grow and develop our economy Namibia, we need to invest in agriculture to pave our precious agricultural land to support the rapidly expanding economy, which will make way for factories and housing developments. There must be a commitment at the highest levels of government, and this must be coupled with an action program that addresses the needs of farmers in the context of the environment. As the Namibian population continues to grow, it means more mouths to feed, therefore the government needs to invest in agricultural land and sees to it that, those that have the desire and the strength to carry out agricultural activities are given the platform to do so, meaning it should give property rights in communal areas to its people. Food prices have been rocketing over the past few years and this trend is likely to continue, so depending on the world markets for food is risky. For most families in Namibia, there is no way of avoiding these food price increases, and for some, there has been no choice but to make serious spending cuts elsewhere.

However, rising food costs do not have to be a one-way ticket to poverty. Namibia needs to invest in agriculture food production as it supports food security. This will mean a great success in reducing hunger. We should not however forget that agriculture is by far the largest user of water, contributing to water scarcity. Improper agriculture methods can cause agro-chemical pollution and soil exhaustion. With rising resource scarcity, climate change and concerns about environmental costs, business as usual in the way agriculture uses natural resources is therefore no longer an option. We thus need new technologies and skilled agricultures (by investing in education as stated earlier) which make it possible to grow crops in ways that conserve water and protect soil fertility. Conclusion Natural resources are materials that come from Earth. Water, air, trees, minerals, and land are all examples of natural resources. These resources are our gift from nature, we should make use of them. Agriculture is also good for Namibia because of employment creation, food self-sufficiency and rural development.

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