Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The new chief whip of the Landless Peoples’ Movement (LPM), Utaara Mootu has called for immediate reforms to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
On Wednesday, Mootu said this while tabling a motion in parliament aimed at addressing youth entrepreneurship funding.
She said that despite numerous initiatives and substantial budget allocations, support for young entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises remains inadequate, marred by inefficiency, corruption, and a lack of transparency.
“Therefore, this motion demands immediate action to rectify the shortcomings and proposes dynamic solutions for fostering a thriving entrepreneurial landscape for the youth of Namibia,” she said.
The government, through the Ministry of Finance, allocated N$72.2 million for youth development in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
This fund aimed to finance mentorship and coaching programmes via the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) and provide preferential treatment to youth-owned enterprises for contracts valued at N$50 million or less.
However, the allocation for the Ministry of Youth and Sports amounted to only 0.5% of the budget, while the Ministry of Trade and Industrialization received 0.3%.
Despite these provisions, Mootu questioned whether these initiatives translate into tangible economic benefits for young entrepreneurs.
‘’This strategy lacks the financial input to booster youth entrepreneurship as the core tool for rural entrepreneurship, a proposal of an improved five-year financial plan through the establishment of a Rural Entrepreneurship Fund (REF) that will provide low-interest loans and grants, while in collaboration with microfinance institutions, will extend financial services to rural areas,’’ expressed Mootu.
Young farmers, according to Mootu, face significant hurdles, including market gatekeeping and monopolistic practices that necessitate middlemen to maintain profits.
Mootu stressed the need for internal quality control and government support to ensure that products like charcoal attract more buyers, thus securing the market for young farmers.
“The Ministry has trained 15 beneficiaries on charcoal farming allocation farms for production. This is a great initiative however, as the ministry plans on adding more beneficiaries the government should look at creating internal quality control in an open market that ensures that the charcoal being produced by beneficiaries can attract more buyers,” she said.
Mootu proposed several solutions to support young entrepreneurs, including performance-based grants to incentivize financial institutions and simplified application processes to enhance funding accessibility.
She also advocated for an SME economic recovery loan scheme to address economic challenges, as well as the establishment of an independent oversight mechanism for transparent auditing of youth entrepreneurship funding.
Mootu also called for fostering public-private partnerships to pool resources and expertise while enhancing the support ecosystem for young businesses.
