Namibia will host an important African Union summit at precisely the moment when the continent can no longer afford to treat unemployment, poverty and social protection as separate policy problems.
The Sixth Ordinary Session of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment, taking place in Windhoek from 27 to 31 July, brings together ministers, officials, employers, workers, regional bodies and development partners to confront some of Africa’s most stubborn challenges.
The theme, “Investing, Strengthening and Expanding Social Protection Systems in Africa: A Critical Enabler for Inclusion, Resilience and Social Justice”, is appropriately ambitious.
But Namibia must ensure that the summit becomes more than another five-day diplomatic event, followed by a communique that is praised, filed and forgotten.
This is an opportunity to place Namibia at the centre of one of Africa’s most important policy debates. It is also an opportunity to ask an uncomfortable question: if the continent is struggling to create enough jobs for its young and rapidly growing population, what exactly must change in the way African economies are structured?
The challenge is enormous. Millions of Africans work in informal economies without secure incomes, pensions, medical protection, unemployment insurance or meaningful protection against economic shocks. Young people face bleak employment prospects. Women continue to experience unequal access to economic opportunities. Migrant workers often fall between the cracks of national systems. Persons with disabilities remain excluded from too many workplaces. Meanwhile, climate shocks, economic disruptions and public health crises continue to expose the weaknesses of existing social protection systems.
Namibia is not an observer of this crisis. We are part of it.
Our own unemployment crisis, particularly among young people, remains one of the country’s most urgent national challenges. A large proportion of Namibians survive through informal economic activity. Many households remain vulnerable to economic shocks. The country is also confronting the consequences of inequality, a housing crisis, limited economic diversification and a labour market that does not generate enough opportunities for the number of people entering it.
The AU summit therefore offers Namibia an important opportunity to move beyond rhetoric and bring its own difficult realities into the continental conversation.
We should not host the summit merely to showcase our conference facilities, hospitality and diplomatic credentials. We should use it to demonstrate what Namibia is learning, and what we still need to learn, about building an inclusive economy.
The first opportunity is intellectual and policy-driven. Namibia should use the summit to champion a practical African framework for the transition from informal work to greater economic security. Informal workers cannot simply be told to become formal businesses overnight. They require accessible registration systems, affordable social insurance, financial services, skills development, markets and protection from exploitation.
The second opportunity is to place youth employment at the centre of the African agenda. Africa’s demographic future can either become its greatest economic advantage or its most dangerous source of instability. Young Africans do not need speeches about entrepreneurship alone. They need functioning economies, access to capital, quality education, relevant skills and businesses capable of creating sustainable jobs.
Namibia should use the summit to promote a more honest discussion about the relationship between education and employment. Producing graduates without expanding the economy that must absorb them is not a development strategy.
Third, the summit should become a platform for Namibia to showcase its own innovations in social protection while acknowledging the gaps that remain. Our social grants and other interventions have provided important support to vulnerable citizens. But social protection cannot be reduced to government transfers. The ultimate objective must be to build an economy in which more citizens can earn decent and sustainable livelihoods.
That requires a deliberate connection between social protection, education, industrialisation, small-business development, agriculture, technology and investment.
The summit also provides a diplomatic opportunity. Namibia should not merely attend African policy discussions; it should help shape them. We should build alliances with countries facing similar challenges and develop practical partnerships around labour mobility, skills development, social insurance, digital employment and youth entrepreneurship.
The private sector must not be treated as a spectator. Businesses create the majority of jobs, and employers must be part of the solution. The same applies to trade unions, civil society, universities and young people themselves.
However, Namibia must also be careful not to confuse hosting with leadership. Leadership is not measured by the number of international delegates who arrive in Windhoek. It is measured by whether the country can convert ideas into policy and policy into results.
The government should therefore consider establishing a clear national mechanism to follow up on the summit’s outcomes. Namibia should identify the commitments it supports, assign responsibility for implementation and report publicly on progress.
The summit should also leave a local legacy. Universities, young entrepreneurs, trade unions, employers and civil society organisations should be connected to the discussions. Namibia should host public dialogues and business forums around the summit, ensuring that the conversation does not remain confined to government meeting rooms.
Most importantly, the summit must force us to confront the central contradiction in our development model: we speak constantly about employment creation, yet too often measure economic success through investment figures, GDP growth and the value of exports without asking how many decent livelihoods the economy is actually producing.
The AU summit gives Namibia a moment to help change that conversation.
Africa does not need another set of beautiful declarations about inclusion and social justice. It needs practical systems that protect people while creating the conditions for them to become economically independent.
Namibia should host the summit with humility, ambition and a clear national interest.
We must learn from the continent. We must share what we know. We must build partnerships. And, above all, we must ensure that when the delegates leave Windhoek, Namibia is not left with only photographs and a communiqué.
If we are serious about “helping to build Namibia”, then this summit should become a catalyst for a national conversation about the kind of economy we want to build, and the kind of country we want our young people to inherit.
