By Fimanekeni Mbodo
At some point, we need to stop pretending that businesses magically drop out of the sky fully grown.
The natural process of economic development is that businesses start small, stumble, learn, and scale. But Namibia’s funding ecosystem continues to operate as if this cycle is optional. We expect polish before potential, and yet we wonder why innovation is stagnant and unemployment is sky-high.
Namibia has a broad unemployment rate of 54.8% and is consistently ranked among the most unequal societies in the world. If we don’t start funding small businesses, we’re choosing to preserve inequality. Worse still, we’re risking the very peace and stability we like to brag about. What, exactly, are we stabilising? A lack of opportunity?
This Isn’t Optional. It’s the Only Way Forward
Why do we speak about SME funding as though it’s a favour? As if it’s something to consider once we’ve handled the “real” issues of development? There is no developmental agenda without funded entrepreneurship.
That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. We cannot diversify the economy or tackle poverty while treating entrepreneurship like a side hustle and mentorship like a substitute for money.
Just ask the Chinese or the Americans. These are two very different ideological systems, but both subsidise and support their high-potential companies without shame. That’s what long- term strategic thinking looks like. Singapore, a small country with no natural resources, bet big on entrepreneurship, and today, its living standards speak for themselves.
Meanwhile, Namibia still tries to revive state-owned airlines that swallowed close to N$10 billion between 2002 and 2020. But when it comes to SMEs, suddenly we get frugal?
Then there’s the go-to excuse: “SMEs are too risky.” That’s not fact. It’s a lack of ambition. Other countries have developed risk models tailored to growing businesses. Defaults happen. But advanced economies treat that as school fees, a necessary cost of building innovation.
Here, we punish failure like it’s criminal. Even applying for funding can feel like a moral test. And then we wonder why talented people take their ideas elsewhere.
Private Sector Power. Public Responsibility.
At what point does private capital need to be held accountable for helping build the country it profits from?
Namibia has just over three million people. Yet three banking groups—FirstRand, Capricorn Group, and SBN—each generate over a billion dollars a year in profits. With that level of performance in such a small market, the expectation must be that they each take on more of the measured risk required to support small businesses.
Their balance sheets can handle it. Their reputations would benefit from it. You can’t keep milking the cow and pretend the calves are someone else’s problem.
And let’s not pretend that big businesses are safer bets. Courts are constantly flooded with legal disputes involving high-profile borrowers. The reality is, some of the riskiest lending happens at the top, not the bottom.
Expanding credit to small businesses diversifies risk. It shifts power away from legacy players who have become complacent. It strengthens the system, not weakens it.
SMEs are constantly offered mentorships and training, but rarely see funding that’s accessible, transparent, or grounded in local realities. Meanwhile, other countries are making strategic investments in entrepreneurs, building companies of the future. We’re still stuck chasing forms and eligibility checklists.
If Not Us, Then Who?
It’s a simple question. If not government, then who? If not private capital, then what are they here for? If not us, as Namibians, then are we waiting for generous foreign investors to come save us?
It’s time to act like we believe in our own people. Time to fund the dreams we say we support. Because if Namibia won’t fund its SMEs, then we need to stop asking who will and start asking what kind of future we’re really building.
In a time of rising global protectionism and unpredictable geopolitics, do we really want to be a country with no capacity at home?
*Fimanekeni Mbodo is an Entrepreneur and Independent Financial and Business analyst. He has a strong background in Finance and Business, with a BCom in Financial Accounting from the University of Cape Town and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Namibia.
