Skills gap threatens jobs drive

Namibia's ambitions to develop new industries and attract investment could be undermined by a growing mismatch between the skills produced by its education system and those required by employers.

Despite high youth unemployment, businesses across several sectors continue to struggle to find appropriately skilled workers, raising questions about whether universities and vocational training institutions are preparing graduates for the country's changing economic needs.

The challenge was highlighted at a public discussion hosted by the Economic Association of Namibia (EAN) in Windhoek on Wednesday, where research showed youth unemployment at 44.4%, compared with a national average of 36.9%.

With 34.1% of Namibia's population aged between 15 and 34, the findings point to a significant challenge in converting the country's young population into an economic asset.

Sylvester Mbangu, deputy executive director for macroeconomic planning at the National Planning Commission, said Namibia needed to reconsider how its education system responds to the country's development priorities.

"We need to interrogate our education system in its entirety. The skills we develop should not be developed for the sake of developing them, but should first be aligned with our social problems and what the various sectors in the country really require," he said.

Mbangu argued that education and training programmes should be informed by human resource requirements across the economy.

"We need to localise our solutions so that we can develop our economy and create employment," he said.

Technical skills in short supply

Research presented by University of Namibia senior lecturer Mune Samaniya identified significant shortages across manufacturing, engineering, agriculture, information technology, oil and gas, and logistics.

Manufacturing employers are struggling to recruit electrical and mechanical technicians, welders, maintenance technicians and quality-control specialists, with an acute shortage at technician level, particularly NQF Level 6.

In information technology, demand is growing for expertise in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics and cybersecurity.

Agriculture faces shortages in specialised areas such as precision farming, smart irrigation and aquaculture. The research estimates that only about 11% of agricultural workers are skilled.

The emerging oil and gas industry presents another challenge. Namibia has historically offered almost no local training in specialised occupations such as subsea technicians, remotely operated vehicle pilots, wireline engineers and mud-logging specialists.

This raises questions about the country's ability to ensure meaningful local participation as investment in the petroleum industry advances.

Graduates struggle to meet employer expectations

The mismatch is also reflected in higher education and vocational training outputs.

According to Samaniya's presentation, education, training and development account for 43.5% of higher education completions, while business, commerce and management represent 20.6%.

By comparison, manufacturing, engineering and technology account for just 3.4%, while agriculture and nature conservation represent 2%.

The research suggests that relatively few graduates are entering technical fields that could support industrialisation and emerging economic sectors.

Employers are also concerned about graduates' practical abilities. Some 26.2% of employer responses identified graduates' inability to apply skills acquired during training as a concern. An equal proportion highlighted insufficient familiarity with equipment and the ability to work with limited supervision.

The transition from training into employment is another weakness. Some 41.2% of graduates rated employment and job-search support provided through their vocational training programmes as poor, while 28.8% expressed dissatisfaction with assistance in securing workplace attachments.

Employers themselves face constraints in accommodating trainees. Half of those surveyed cited insufficient time to train them, while 40% said attachment periods were too short.

Bridging the gap

Samaniya called for curricula to be aligned with labour-market requirements, longer and compulsory workplace attachments, improved graduate placement support and compulsory digital literacy across basic education, vocational training and higher education.

He also advocated project management and entrepreneurship modules to help graduates pursue self-employment.

"Entrepreneurship is one key area that could support graduates in eventually doing something for themselves through incubation support," he said.

Government is also seeking to improve labour-market information.

Tuyakula Shifidi, chief statistician at the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations, outlined three initiatives: the Namibia Occupational Skills Assistance Survey, the recently launched Labour Market Information System and the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System.

Together, these are intended to identify employer skills requirements, improve access to labour-market data and connect registered jobseekers with vacancies.

The discussion, held in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Bank Windhoek and First National Bank, brought together representatives from government, academia and the private sector.