By Onesmus Keudaneko Joseph
In the face of high youth unemployment, as country we face a critical choice to make. Either continue to operate within the safety of outdated laws and policies, or embrace a bold, practical reform agenda that supports entrepreneurship as the engine of job creation and inclusive growth.
It is no longer a news that not everyone will be employed in public space, some have to create jobs for us. To this end, the future of our economy lies in unlocking the entrepreneurial potential of our people, particularly the youth and graduates; many of whom, even with advanced degrees, find themselves on the fringes of economic participation.
Yet, despite acknowledging this reality, we continue to suffocate entrepreneurship with policies and laws that are outdated, exclusionary, and, quite frankly, self-inflicted barriers to progress.
“Natu ukilileni utale omungalilea ou” let us address the elephant in the room. Across the country, thousands of Namibians engage in small-scale, cross-border trading, as we characterised it as “Order with Me”.
These entrepreneurs import second-hand clothes, everyday goods from countries like Angola and South Africa. They do not ask for handouts. They do not knock at government doors seeking jobs. They have created an economic system of their own; employing people and feeding families.
Yet, instead of supporting these efforts, our laws have effectively criminalized them. Exorbitant customs duties, rigid import regulations, and a blanket prohibition on so-called “knock-off” or imitation goods have crippled many small enterprises.
Why do we continue to act as if importing low-cost goods is a national security threat? Why do we penalise our own people for trying to make a living while multinational corporations enjoy red-carpet treatment and tax incentives?
We can all agree that trading laws and policies such the Customs and Excise Act among others were not designed with micro-traders or grassroots entrepreneurship in mind.
It is a relic of a different era, one that no longer fits the realities of 21st-century trade and livelihood strategies. While government officials claim to be enforcing the law, we must ask: what is the value of enforcing a bad law? Mechanical enforcement of law will not help us.
Just over a year ago, a young Namibia lady ran a thriving informal stall in Windhoek and Oshakati. She employed three young Namibian. She imported second-hand clothes, shoes, and household goods from Angola and South Africa.
She was making an honest living and helping others do the same. But one border incident after another, one tax bill after another, and eventually, mechanical enforcement of laws banning “branded imitation goods,” forced her to shut down. Her crime? She could not afford the fees and penalties imposed on her goods, even though they were affordable alternatives for the communities she served. This is a typical example that many who live in Windhoek and they don’t know where Havana Shoprite is, can not relate at all.
This is the story of hundreds of traders in Windhoek, Ongwediva, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, and other towns. If you’ve never gone to bed on an empty stomach, it’s easy to dismiss these businesses as informal or even illegal.
But if you have, you’ll understand that these ventures are not just businesses, but they ease the burden on government by fulfilling many social and economic responsibilities
One of the most misunderstood aspects of informal trade is the assumption that knock-off goods are synonymous with poor quality. This is not necessarily true. Many of these goods are manufactured in bulk for emerging markets.
They meet the price points of working-class consumers and fill a gap left by high-end products that most citizens cannot afford.
Countries like China, Kenya, Ghana, and Angola have embraced informal trade and low-cost goods as part of their economic fabric. Their economies are growing, and their people are working. Shouldn’t Namibia draw lessons from this?
I fully support the recent government’s call for legislative reform for a number of laws and in my view Customs and Excise Act should be on top of the list. Enforcing bad laws under the banner of compliance does more harm than good.
Laws that discourage legal entrepreneurship, particularly among youth, should be condemned and reformed. If our laws and treaties stand in the way of inclusive entrepreneurship, job creation, and national development, then I think our ancestor gave us enough signs to review them. There is not need to abide to international agreements that restrict our ability to empower citizens, we must have the courage to renegotiate or even withdraw.
Believe you me, when we talk of the bread-and-butter issue, we afford to keep our policies on paper while our people suffer in the streets. Legislative frameworks must move from boardrooms and policy tables to marketplaces and the realities of Havana, Katutura, and Oshikango.
Eshi natu shuudeiko, when hinder entrepreneurs, we are not just blocking business, we are blocking the dreams, livelihoods, and futures of millions. And that, in the end, is not just bad policy, it is a self-inflicted wound on our national development.
*Onesmus Keudaneko Joseph is Business Strategy Practitoner with a strong focus on strategic foresight and futures literacy. He is currently the Manager for Intellectual Property Enforcement and Frameworks at BIPA. He writes in his personal capacity. josephonesmus@gmail.com
