Namibia continues producing thousands of graduates every year, yet employers keep raising the same concern: many graduates are not equipped for the realities of the modern economy.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is right to warn that the country cannot industrialise through theoretical education alone. But the problem goes deeper than internships and practical exposure.
Some courses are simply no longer aligned with where the global economy is heading.
Namibia is still producing large numbers of graduates for sectors with limited absorption capacity while industries linked to engineering, manufacturing, agriculture, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, renewable energy and digital technology continue facing serious skills shortages.
That mismatch is becoming dangerous.
Artificial intelligence is already replacing certain tasks once done by junior employees, administrators, clerks, customer service staff and entry-level analysts. Around the world, companies are restructuring around automation and technology.
Yet many universities continue operating as if the labour market of 20 years ago still exists.
It does not.
A degree is no longer automatic protection against unemployment. In some sectors, it may soon become the fastest route to frustration if the qualification is not linked to real economic demand.
Worse still, many students leave university carrying significant debt and student loans tied to qualifications that struggle to secure employment. That is not only an economic issue. It is a fairness issue.
Young people are investing years of their lives and large amounts of money into programmes that may offer very limited employment prospects in a rapidly changing economy.
This is the difficult conversation Namibia now needs to have.
Some university programmes need urgent review. Some need complete redesign. Others may need to be reduced significantly or phased out entirely if they continue producing graduates into saturated markets with few opportunities.
That sounds harsh. But continuing to produce graduates for jobs that barely exist is even harsher.
The problem is not that business management, public administration or social sciences have no value. The problem is oversupply relative to economic demand.
At the same time, companies continue importing technical and specialised skills because local supply remains inadequate.
That contradiction exposes a leadership problem within higher education itself.
Too many institutions continue operating with a business-as-usual mindset while the global economy undergoes one of the biggest technological shifts in decades. Universities cannot continue teaching the same way, offering the same programmes and producing the same outcomes while expecting different results.
Transformation cannot simply become a slogan repeated during graduation ceremonies.
University leadership must be willing to adapt curricula faster, invest in digital and technical skills, strengthen partnerships with industry and rethink what employability means in an AI-driven world.
Universities also cannot continue measuring success purely by graduation numbers. Producing graduates who remain unemployed for years is not a national achievement.
If Namibia wants to industrialise, institutions must produce engineers, coders, technicians, artisans, AI specialists, agricultural scientists and entrepreneurs capable of building industries, not simply graduates searching for office jobs.
The reality is uncomfortable but unavoidable: not every degree remains valuable in a digital economy where technology can already perform parts of many traditional white-collar jobs faster and cheaper.
Namibia does not need fewer graduates.
It needs graduates trained for the economy that is coming, not the economy that is disappearing.
*Briefly is a weekly column that is opinionated and analytical. It sifts through the noise to make sense of the numbers, trends and headlines shaping business and the economy with insight, wit and just enough scepticism to keep things interesting. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT OUR OWN, we simply relay them as part of the conversation.
