By:Kandjengo kaMkwaanyoka- From Okwalondo with love
As I write this, I have a folder from the Oil and Gas Conference full of presentations, and mind you, I haven’t finished reading the documentation of the Climate Change Adaptation Awareness W0rkshop organised by the Environmental Investment Fund (EIF).
So much information, insights, and lectures are available in Windhoek. Every institution and NGO is hosting one. I sometimes feel pity for my village entrepreneurs, because Windhoek is packed with information sessions.
I am drowning in valuable insights and I don’t even know where to start reading or which lecture to watch.
I have 25 presentations from the Oil and Gas Conference that I need to go through religiously, so I update myself on these oil and gas things.
At the same time, I haven’t finished my 13 EIF Stakeholders’ Conference presentations which took place under the theme “Improving Climate Financing Scale Through Strategic Collaboration”.
So much information is being released for us to dissect and learn,. However, in this fast world do we have the time to process this information and use it to make the right moves? That is especially on the novel sectors and growth avenues that seem to be taking precedence at this juncture of economic repositioning.
Another question is, how are we unpackaging this volume of economic information to the masses? Is it reachable to all across the country and are they able to dissect it and make the right economic moves?
Are we deliberately making sure they get and comprehend the economic information we are flooding them with? If the objective is to inform the public to position themselves and take advantage of the emerging opportunities or to teach them about the emerging risks, especially on climate change.
Otherwise, why are we flooding the market with conferences and seminars if we aren’t going the extra mile to make sure people comprehend what we are preaching?
I am overwhelmed by the information I have received and I am googling terms, every presentation leads me to download something to assist me understand every topic.
Furthermore, what do I do with the information, must I go back to school to change my majors, learn online and be a consultant, or do a certificate to upgrade?
We have to be deliberate with our approach to informing and educating the economic participants in the context of our history and the current state of economic understanding.
Focusing on the Oil and Gas Conference; it was a well-organised event, full of insights and literature on the targeted sectors. However, it was held while I was selling my tomatoes at Stop and Shop in Okuryngava.
I think there is a bit of a knowledge gap when it comes to what is needed in building an economy. More importantly, creating awareness on the economic restructuring and diversification journey.
Restructuring and diversifying our production or achieving the needed economic complexity require a knowledgeable populace for them to do what needs to be done.
What the Oil and Gas Conference has unleashed is a lot, and everyone in the country needs to get a piece of it so they choose at what stage of value or supply chain they will participate.
However, those individuals’ economic moves will be guided by the level of comprehension and how informative the information unleashed is.
So the main goal is not just to hold conferences and seminars and stream them and hope the masses grasp as much but rather ensure they get the information and insights.
Furthermore, all the effort should be done cognisant of our characteristics as a nation, our education level, our interest in economic matters, and the cost of data to stream events.
I have learned that informing Namibians on economic matters and emerging opportunities is the hardest thing given where we are coming from.
Thus hosting manyconferences in Windhoek has its advantages to me because I am deliberate in accessing such information and learning more.
I encourage those responsible for building an inclusive economy to do more beyond Windhoek conferences and seminars.
We are not restructuring and diversifying the Windhoek economy but the country’s economy. With our efforts let us go to Opuwo, make a turn at Kalimbeza, and hold a seminar at Bethanie.
The Bank of Namibia hosted a monetary policy seminar for the youth at Oshakati, and I highly appreciated that move. Next time they should go to Tses – all youth want to meet you and ask you questions and get inspired.
We cannot move forward at the pace we aspire if the majority of our populace is not well informed on the basics of economic building.Email: gerastus16@gmail.com