By: June Shimuoshili
Namibia’s economic future will not be built by government alone.
It will be built by entrepreneurs, farmers, innovators, professionals, small businesses and ordinary people creating opportunities where they live.
Women must be at the centre of that future.
For years, women have been told to start small, survive and make do. But surviving should not be the ceiling of women’s economic ambition.
We should want women to own companies.
Employ people.
Export products.
Enter technology.
Participate in energy, agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
Build farms.
Lead institutions.
And make decisions about the economy.
There is reason for optimism.
The National Youth Development Fund is supporting youth-owned enterprises, including projects in agriculture, green technology, manufacturing and other sectors, with priority attention to groups including young women and rural youth.
The launch of DBN For Her is another important development, with a dedicated financing facility for 100% women-owned Namibian enterprises.
But initiatives only become transformative when women know about them and can access them.
That means taking information into communities.
It means simplifying processes where possible.
It means providing financial literacy and business mentorship.
It means ensuring rural women are not left behind because they lack internet access, collateral or knowledge of how institutions work.
Women’s empowerment is not about giving women special treatment.
It is about removing barriers that have prevented them from competing fairly.
Namibia has women who are already doing extraordinary things with very little.
Imagine what they could achieve if they had the resources to match their ambition.
This is the Namibia we should be building: one where a girl’s background does not determine her future and where a woman’s circumstances do not determine the size of her dream.
