The government is pushing entrepreneurs operating under the growing “Order With Me” business model to move beyond importing goods and begin manufacturing products locally as part of efforts to boost industrialisation, create jobs and strengthen economic self-reliance.
Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare said the sector has demonstrated the entrepreneurial potential of young Namibians but argued that the next stage of growth should focus on producing goods within the country rather than relying primarily on imports.
Speaking during an engagement with entrepreneurs, Ngurare said Namibia must increasingly build local value chains capable of supplying both consumers and public institutions.
“If we can find a way to dress ourselves, it is halfway through self-reliance. If we find a way to feed ourselves, we are halfway through self-reliance. And if we do that, then independence also means something,” he said.
The Prime Minister encouraged entrepreneurs to develop Namibian brands and invest in local production, arguing that manufacturing would create wider economic opportunities than simply importing finished products.
“If any of you here, as well as the others that have registered with us as Order With Me, can design this and then some other young person can maybe plant cotton from where we can do these things, their own materials, I will buy local before I can buy what comes from outside the borders of Namibia. And that is how jobs are created,” Ngurare said.
According to the Prime Minister, around 400 entrepreneurs have already registered under the Order With Me initiative, which has emerged as a growing platform for youth entrepreneurship and e-commerce.
He said government wants locally produced goods to increasingly replace imported products and capture domestic procurement opportunities.
“School uniforms should not be coming from outside Namibia. They should be coming from Order With Me. We have the market and we can be able to support one another by giving this business to ourselves and by supporting Namibian brands,” Ngurare said.
To support the transition from trading to production, Ngurare highlighted the National Youth Development Fund, which he said has been allocated N$500 million annually to finance youth-owned businesses.
He said the fund provides collateral-free financing to entrepreneurs who would otherwise struggle to access conventional funding.
“We have availed N$500 million annually towards the National Youth Development Fund. Five hundred million dollars is going to go to youth entrepreneurs, but collateral-free, because some young people do not even have a chicken to their name. So where are they going to get collateral from?” he said.
Ngurare said the fund can support business proposals ranging from approximately N$60,000 to N$2 million and urged entrepreneurs to take advantage of the facility to expand and formalise their operations.
“This fund is available to you and your business model is part of that business idea. You should be able to come forward and say this is my business and this is the amount I need so that we can support you to grow and expand,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the engagement forms part of government’s broader youth empowerment agenda and signalled that consultations with entrepreneurs will continue as authorities seek to grow local enterprise and reduce dependence on imported goods.
