Namibia’s housing problem is not hard to address, but we need to focus on causes, not symptoms
Namibia has fewer houses than families, with roughly 25% of our population still living in improvised housing. This basic fact forms the cause of enormous consternation, frustration and suffering in the country. The root cause of this problem is simple: we have been woefully inadequate in our provision of serviced land, particularly in and around […]
TransNamib in disarray: at what cost?
It is no secret that the parastatal responsible for providing efficient and effective rail road services in Namibia, TransNamib, is in dire straits. From appointing new managerial and board members, to implementing a 180-day turnaround strategy, the organisation has failed to better its financial position and provide reliable railroad services to the country. The question […]
How about a Basic Nutrition Grant instead?
There has been much talk about the Basic Income Grant (BIG) in Namibia, and elsewhere, however an alternative option worth considering is a Basic Nutrition Grant (BNG). One of the pressing issues facing Namibia’s developmental state is widespread under-nutrition throughout the country, particularly amongst children under the age of five. Namibia’s arid and sparsely populated […]
Courting or condemning capital?
Without investments, high quality and desirable jobs cannot be created. And heaven knows, Namibia needs jobs. With almost a third of our labour force currently out of work, this is arguably the single greatest issue facing the Namibian people, and the fight against poverty and inequality. Why then, you may ask, are currently doing so […]
House prices not just expensive, but unaffordable
The issue in Namibia that most consumers are facing is that house prices are simply not affordable. Your salary needs to have increased by at least 52% in order for you to have comfortably bought the same type of property that was sold in the market in 2007. This is according to the FNB’s latest […]
The importance of credible forecasts
The Namibian economy has been experiencing slower growth over the past 12 months than we have seen in the last 5 years. There are still a few deniers of this; however the high frequency data is fairly conclusive. This comes after a period of extremely high growth, which has set an excellent base for the […]
The multiplier effect of Basic Income Grants
The debate surrounding the introduction of a Basic Income Grant (BIG), a universal and unconditional cash transfer to Namibians below the age of 60, has sparked up again after President Geingob took office. Much research has been done surrounding the effects of cash transfers, both conditional and unconditional. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank […]
The myth of the lazy poor
The government’s stated “war on poverty”, and accompanying policy proposals such as basic income grants and the solidarity tax, have opened a national debate on the virtues of social grants to the poor. Surprisingly, the idea has gained traction, particularly among wealthier segments of Namibian society, that cash grants to the poorest in our society […]