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YOUNG OBSERVER | #Unmuted

December has arrived with the familiar brightness of warm weather, crowded calendars and a soft expectation that the mood of the country should somehow lift. The festive season in Namibia always brings its own rhythm: towns get louder, families gather, travel plans fill group chats, and everyone turns their attention toward rest, celebration, or escape. Yet as we step into this first edition of the month, it is important to acknowledge that the start of December does not magically reset what young people have been carrying throughout the year. If anything, it brings those realities into sharper focus. This week’s…
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The Namibian skills armageddon: Time to match education with national needs

Namibia stands at a defining crossroads. With 70% of our population under the age of 35, we possess what many nations can only dream of: a young, energetic demographic capable of driving innovation, production, and economic transformation for generations to come. And yet, ironically, we are simultaneously burdened by soaring unemployment rates, a growing semi-skilled workforce, and a tertiary education system that often operates in isolation from the true requirements of the economy. This is a dangerous contradiction, one that may soon plunge us into what can only be described as a skills armageddon if decisive action is not taken.…
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A promising vision, but can the new task forces deliver?

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s commissioning of the national task forces on economic recovery, health, and housing & land marks one of the clearest early signals of the 8th Administration’s intention to break from business-as-usual governance. The speech delivered was measured, sober, and deliberately forward-looking. It struck the necessary chords of unity, urgency, and institutional alignment. Yet, as with any initiative built on lofty ambition, the real test lies not in the unveiling but in the doing. The President’s framing of Namibia’s current challenges – rising living costs, constrained job creation, underperforming service delivery, a strained health system, and the persistent burdens…
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From classroom to industry relevance: Why Africa needs problem-based learning

From classroom to industry relevance: Why Africa needs problem-based learning

More than ever, this is the moment for curriculum experts, educational planners, university leaders and policymakers to converge around a shared priority: implementing problem-based learning (PBL) to tackle unemployment, strengthen entrepreneurship and fix the persistent mismatch between graduate skills and the demands of industry. In January 2023, I was among a group of six students privileged to spend six months at Aalborg University in Denmark on an exchange programme. While I expected cultural surprises and harsh winter weather, nothing was as eye-opening as the university’s learning philosophy: problem-based learning. With graduate unemployment rising and frustration growing among young people across…
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A slap in the face to Trump: The EU-AU summit declaration hits US interests

A slap in the face to Trump: The EU-AU summit declaration hits US interests

In the final declaration of the 7th EU–AU Summit, adopted on November 25, 2025, in Luanda under the chairmanship of Angolan President João Lourenço, there is a passage about “volatility of tariffs and uncertainty in trade policy” that in Washington will almost certainly be perceived as a direct and undisguised criticism of the United States. The tariffs are quite unambiguously contrasted here with the “stability and predictable rules” that Europe supposedly offers to African countries. “We emphasise that growing uncertainty in trade policy and tariff volatility in global trade pose a challenge to the world economy. In this context, trade…
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STOP PRESS | World AIDS Day 

STOP PRESS | World AIDS Day 

Every year on 1 December, Namibia joins the rest of the world in marking World AIDS Day, an annual reminder of the profound human cost of a virus that has shaped our national story for more than three decades. It is a day of memory, gratitude, and resolve, but also one that demands an honest confrontation with the realities we too often soften with comforting language. If anything, Namibia should treat this year’s observance not as a ceremonial pause but as a warning flare. For while our progress is real, our vulnerabilities remain stubborn, layered, and in some cases worsening…
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TURNING POINT | Reimagining organised business in Namibia: A call for renewed collective voice from a Namibian entrepreneur

TURNING POINT | Reimagining organised business in Namibia: A call for renewed collective voice from a Namibian entrepreneur

As a Namibian entrepreneur, I have long believed, as many of my peers still do, that a strong and coherent system of business representation is indispensable to any modern economy. Where the state and the private sector collaborate constructively yet remain institutionally independent, national development accelerates, investment confidence grows, and policy becomes a platform for opportunity rather than uncertainty. However, Namibia finds itself at a pivotal juncture today. The mechanisms through which the business community organises, advocates, and engages the state have become fragmented, weakened, and in some respects obsolete. This is not a mere administrative inconvenience; it is, in…
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Windhoek’s annual mayoral circus: A city held hostage by its own bureaucracy

Windhoekers are tired, tired of the pretence, tired of the empty rituals, tired of the political musical chairs that masquerade as leadership in the capital city of Namibia. Every year, like clockwork, city council stages its tired spectacle: elect a new mayor, parade them in front of cameras, hand them a chain with great ceremonial pomp, and then immediately strip them of any meaningful authority. Annual election, zero executive powers. A new face, the same impotence. The same bureaucracy, untouched and unbothered. It is governance by Groundhog Day, a classic definition of doing the same thing again and again while…
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Response by ambassador Selma Ashipala-Musayi, Minister of International Relations and Trade, to the Observer editorial of 18 November 2025

Response by ambassador Selma Ashipala-Musayi, Minister of International Relations and Trade, to the Observer editorial of 18 November 2025

In response to the editorial by the Windhoek Observer on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, which detailed British home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s announcement regarding the potential suspension or restriction of visas for Namibian nationals, I would like to offer the following perspective. Namibia’s diplomacy is firmly rooted in constitutional principles that guide our engagement with the international community. Our foreign policy is predicated on the foundation of just and mutually beneficial relations, never at the expense of our citizens. As a responsible member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth, Namibia remains committed to upholding the fundamental rights and responsibilities enshrined…
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YOUNG OBSERVER | Swapo reclaims lost ground as Namibia takes stock of a shifting political landscape 

YOUNG OBSERVER | Swapo reclaims lost ground as Namibia takes stock of a shifting political landscape 

In the aftermath of the recent regional and local authority elections, Namibia is once again sorting through a familiar mixture of certainty and surprise. The results of these elections as announced by the Electoral Commission of Namibia point to a notable trend: Swapo has reclaimed several constituencies it lost in previous cycles. The outcome is significant. Over the past decade, Namibia’s political terrain has been marked by fragmentation, emerging parties, independent candidates reshaping the margins, and a steady erosion of the once unquestioned dominance of the ruling party. The 2024 general elections reflected this mood. Swapo held on to power,…
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