In 1990, occupying power South Africa left Namibia and the country became independent. But the legacy of apartheid remains clear. Namibia now faces the challenge of making a stable changes to to its national economy so that all groups that were already dissatisfied are also involved and are offered work, health care and social welfare. The two most important reform processes to make the change succeed are:
- The transfer of land from white landowners to black landowners
- Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) to give the black population more influence and greater returns from trade and industry, which is dominated by the white minority (6 per cent of the population).
“Vision 2030” defines Namibia’s long-term vision for development; a successful and industrialized nation developed by its people in peace, harmony and political stability.
Working towards the Millennium Development Goals
Namibia is the driest country in Africa south of the Sahara, and the lack of water is a major obstacle to development. In economic terms, Namibia is dependent on a few areas of industry, in particular mining, fishing and cattle farming. Namibia is striving to diversify its economy and industry and reduce South Africa’s dominance in trade. One area that can be developed further is the growing tourist industry. It could bring greater income and reduce the very high unemployment rate.
The country has had good economic growth in recent years and according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Namibia will be one of the few African countries that will meet the Millennium Development Goals. One important contributing factor to this achievement is that Namibia invests heavily in education. Almost all children in Namibia go to school and a large proportion of them are literate.
Severely hit by HIV/Aids
Despite economic development, social development in Namibia is worsening. The HIV/Aids epidemic in the country has reduced the average life expectancy by almost 20 years. About 15 per cent of the population is HIV positive, with infection rates higher among women than men. Additional consequences of the epidemic are a lack of educated labour both within the public and the private sector and an increase in the number of orphaned children, who today number about 100,000.
Sida is contributing to a comprehensive programme to stop the disease from spreading among young peopley. The programme is run by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and consists of education, youth-focused health centres for youngsters and socio-cultural research.Sweden’s focus areas for the development work in Namibia in recent years have been:
- Reducing poverty
- The environment and climate
- Democracy, equality and human rights.
The work is based on participant co-operation and a new strategy for selective co-operation is being developed. Read more about Sida’s work in Namibia.
Young democracy
Namibia was colonized by Germany at the end of the 19th century. After the First World War, the League of Nations gave South Africa the responsibility of running Namibia. However, South Africa basically incorporated the country as its fifth province. Apartheid was introduced in the late 1940s.
The South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) black liberation movement was formed in 1960 and began an armed fight against South African rule. The struggle for liberation, along with long-term toughening pressure from the UN, western powers and African states, eventually led to Namibian independence in 1990. SWAPO’s leader, Sam Nujoma was elected president, a position he held until 2005 when Hifikepunye Pohamba, also from SWAPO, succeeded him.
New forms of co-operation
Sweden supported the Namibian liberation movement for many years. When the country gained independence in 1990, the aid centred on was changed to bilateral development co-operation. An agreement to phase out the aid was already made at that time that the aid would be phased out because Namibia wasis an average-income country.
However, Sweden continues to support Namibia through participant co-operation. The relations are will be built on mutual interest and will in the long term, will lead to independent relations being independent. The purpose is that, Tthrough participant co-operation, the efforts arwill be designed to so that they contribute towards creating establish relations that in the long term can continue without financial support from the development co-operation.
