Local Economic Development (LED) is not taking place fast enough to slow the move to urban centres. Mostly only the old and the very young are stuck in our rural areas, hardly able to make a living.
Rehoboth an ideal place for investment
For the past 15 years I have been advocating the development of the Rehoboth area. In fact, at one point, I had the then Minister ask if I was a “Rehoboth Baster”. No, but I believe this is an area where almost all the requirements for attraction of investment are in place. Just a pity about the local cultural and political differences!
I felt so strongly about the potential of the town, that I convinced my father to purchase a property in Block C of Rehoboth. The purchase price one-bedroom house (with a lot of work required) in the poorer area of Windhoek could purchase a three-bedroom house with 1,200 square meters yard in Rehoboth. In 2004, I was helping my father with his battle against the banking and insurance institutions (see Chapter 17). I moved to Rehoboth and stayed at his house for a period of one-year.
In the first quarter of the year I offered to assist the Rehoboth Branch of the Namibia National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) as a volunteer Manager. All I asked in return was the membership fees for my activities.
At the end of the year I was able to hold an end-of-year function that included representatives of the tribal authority (Basters), town council and business community. Fortunately, the proceedings were video-taped and I am still able to watch it sometimes.
Together with two local entrepreneurs who also investigated development potentials in the country, we did a business census, photographed and videotaped all the council, business, and state properties. At the end, we prepared a video with a music background provided by a local band, Reho Combo. This video is now available over the internet for download.
The funny part was when we discovered that Rehoboth had a helicopter pad. One Saturday we went over and cleaned the area that was overgrown with weeds and bushes, amongst other things. A few weeks later it was our pleasure to see a helicopter make us of the Helipad.
Local Economic Development (LED)
As part of my work in creating an economic model for Namibia, I always visit the local municipality of town council to collect information they might have. The information packages usually include:
- area map;
- Municipality / Council/ Village mission statement and objectives;
- List of registered businesses; and
- A Strategic Plan.
After twelve years, I have received many such strategic plans and they all have the following in common:
- the need to create a shared identity for the residents of the town;
- the need to address poverty alleviation and job creation;
- the need to increase opportunities for local entrepreneurs;
- developing a service and commerce hub for surrounding rural based economies;
- the need to promote investment and commerce; and
- promoting social equity and improving the quality of life for all (increase wealth of residents).
The town must comprise of:
- dynamic business centre(s) that contain the necessary business and consumer services;
- lively residential areas with sufficient recreation facilities;
- specialised, purpose driven industrial areas; and
- clean, high-quality tourism attraction centres.
The development objectives almost all agree on:
1. More, and better, job opportunities
- Business Development Strategy
- Information for Development Strategy
- Business Recruitment Strategy
- Government company recruitment
- Social Security Commission, NHE, etc.
- Education for self-employment Strategy
2. Working for the private sector
- Business-friendly environment
- Investment Strategy
3. Utilise the opportunities
- Industrial Development Strategy
- Tourism Development Strategy
- Residents, Namibians, SADC and international
- Recreational Opportunities
- Fishing competitions, skiing, gliding,
4. Working for the residents
- Local consultation and participation
- National and regional “decentralisation both private and public (NHE office, Sanlam, corporate involvement, etc.)
- Partnerships with civil society (VCT, churches, NCCI, WAD, etc.)
5. Happy employees in Municipality / Town Council / Village = good service providers
The issue of decentralisation is complex and has many learned people working on possible solutions. I do not want to make the topic out to be at all easy, however, after having visited the same councils, year in and year out, I am seeing similar strategic plans surfacing again and again. The only difference is the political leaders (and possibly Town Clerk) who have now commissioned the study have changed since the last election. I include a Strategic Plan for Rehoboth (first proposed in 1998) as part of the Annexes.
This is a case of “too many chiefs, too few Indians”.
The implementation of these programmes is always the sticking point. Whenever I request an update on the status of projects I am informed that project financing is still being sought.
I propose we give a private sector company the task of implementing one of these development plans.
There is enough documentation available from funding agencies such as GIZ on what should be done that I do not have to waste space in this book. All is state (as per Chapter 3) we need:
- A “Local Government Service Directory”. The information will be on a regional and constituency level indicating the services provided by all government institutions with their full addresses and the person responsible.
The following example is an extract of a database platform to enable a baseline study of services that was done for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies during a workshop on Community Centres in August 2008:
Local Service Directory
Region: Erongo
Governor: Hon. SS Nuuyoma
Postal Address: P/Bag 5019, Swakopmuod
Tel: +264 64 415700 Fax: +264 64 405701
Constituencies:
- Arandis
- Brandberg
- Karibib
- Omaruru
- Swakopmund
- Walvis Bay
Constituency: Karibib
Population: 11,784
Number of voters: 7,227
Number of polling stations: 12 Fixed, 7 Mobile
Urban areas:
Karibib Town
Mayor: Mr. F Aoxamub
CEO: Ms. L Kandetu
Postal Address: Box 19, Karibib
Tel: +264 64 550016 Fax: +264 64 550032
Otjimbingwe Settlement
Secretary: Mr. C. Smith
Postal Address: P/Bag 1004, Karibib
Tel: +264 64 551045 Fax: +264 64551046
Post Office:
Karibib
Contact person: Moira
Tel: +264 64 550043 Fax: +264 64 550043
Multi-Purpose centre: None
Police stations:
Karibib – Tel: + 264 64 550008
Otjimbingwe - + 264 64 551147
Health:
Karibib Clinic
Contact: Ms. V. Nuuiango
Postal Address: P/Bag 1003, Karibib
Tel: +264 64 550073 Fax: +264 64 530293
Otjimbingwe Clinic
Contact: Mrs. Iipinge
Postal Address: P/Bag 1003, Karibib
Tel: +264 64 550875 Fax: +264 64 530293
Secondary Schools:
Karibib Private School
Principal: Mr. Nico van Rooyen
Postal Address: Box 145, Karibib
Male Learners: 149 Female learners: 132 Total learners: 281