Namibia is set to roll out the Global Accelerator project during the current financial year, aiming to generate over 3,600 jobs through the biomass sector and other sustainable industries.
This was revealed on Tuesday by Minister of Justice and Labour, Fillemon Wise Immanuel, as part of the Ministry’s strategic priority to expand labour market services and enhance skills development.
“Our work through the Department is to ensure that every Namibian, regardless of their background, can access decent work, fair compensation, and safe working conditions—while simultaneously fostering an environment where businesses can thrive, innovate, and create more jobs,” Immanuel said.
In 2023, Namibia was selected by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as a pathfinder country under the UN Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions. It was also identified as a pilot country for the ILO’s initiative to minimise disparities in the workplace.
This comes as Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare announced that 630 youth, selected from all 14 regions, have undergone and completed the three mandatory training phases of the National Youth Service’s (NYS) national service training crash course.
Ngurare noted that 345 of these recruits received training in charcoal and biomass production at the Henties Bay Training Centre in the Erongo Region, one of the NYS training centres. They will be deployed to various government farms identified for biomass production.
“About 255 have already completed the training and are currently in production at NYS Germsbok Farm, situated approximately 60 kilometres from Rietfontein,” Ngurare said at the launch of the government’s charcoal youth self-employment project.
Namibia is currently the world’s fifth-largest exporter of charcoal, primarily targeting recreational uses such as barbeque and restaurant-grade charcoal.
“Over the past thirty years, charcoal production has significantly expanded in Namibia. The number of charcoal producers has increased to over 1,300, compared to approximately 350 recorded in 2014,” the Prime Minister said.
He highlighted this growth as a major contributor to the sharp rise in Namibia’s charcoal exports, which reached approximately 270,000 tonnes in 2023.
“This significant export volume highlights the growing importance of the charcoal industry in Namibia’s economy, earning it the nickname ‘the black diamond of Namibia’,” Ngurare said.
