Namibia has been experiencing a meltdown that has placed tremendous pressure on the economy, which is exacerbated by relentless drought, unemployment, a land and housing delivery backlog and contracting economic growth, President Hage Geingob has said.
Delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Wednesday, Geingob said despite these challenges, Namibia continues to enjoy significant successes and milestones such as peace and security, the growth of the economy to four times the size of the Gross Domestic Product during the apartheid era, and the expansion of physical and communication infrastructure.
“We have also recorded an increase in poverty reduction through comprehensive social safety nets, improved access to safe and clean drinking water, universal access to primary and secondary education and gender parity both in the classroom and in Government leadership roles, to mention but a few,” Geingob stated.
He added that despite the difficult economic years since 2016, there is tangible evidence of economic recovery since 2019.
“However, our hopes were devastated by an uninvited guest in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic which arrived on our shores. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had a devastating socio-economic effect on our nation,” he said.
President Geingob said the effects of COVID-19 have seen the country lose some of its brightest minds, while communities have lost their pillars of knowledge.
He then called for a moment of silence in honour of Namibians who succumbed to COVID-19 and related illnesses.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency