Partnership for a broad-based economic growth

the German-Namibian strategy for local economic growth

Overview

Consultancy and competence procurement for communal agents, participatory planning approaches and a focus on public-private dialog forums, as well as the improvement of the national framework for local economic development are key elements of this strategy.

Background

Local Economic Development (LED) is not a new concept in Namibia. Local governments and administrations successively took over responsibility for the economic development of their municipality or region based on different laws (e.g. Local Authority Act, Regional Council Act, Decentralisation Act).

Due to various reasons, especially owing to deficient institutional and individual competencies, regions and municipalities were only making moderate efforts to develop the regional economic sector. The economic and social conditions in many municipalities and regions have not improved much since the country’s independence in 1990.

Local economic development moved up in the national agenda since a 2008 GIZ intervention started supporting the Namibian government efforts.

Objectives

The BMZ mandated project “Partnership for a broad economic growth” which was implemented by GIZ primarily aimed at improving the implementation of local strategies to facilitate economic development and suitable regulatory frameworks for economic practices.

Activities

All municipalities and regions have employed staff for LED and many staff members have been trained and acquired relevant competencies. In cooperation with the Ministry for Local and Regional Governance, Residential Construction and Rural Development the GIZ has supported the development of a political framework for LED in Namibia (white paper) to improve the basic conditions.

An Agency for Economic Developement (LEDA) has been founded and provides advice to regions and cities concerning topics of local economic development and facilitation.

LED is based on a participatory principle: The strategies for economic development of municipalities and regions were drafted and implemented with strong involvement of the private, public and civil sectors. Local public-private dialog forums were established to take place regularly and are co-moderated by the Namibian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and their local branches. These forums provide a basis for discussion for actual regional and municipal problems and contribute to the search of feasible solutions.

Effects

Overall dialogs were introduced in nearly 20 cities. A 2013 survey of 1.200 companies in 12 cities proved that companies were satisfied with the quality of dialogs. Improvements could, however, still be achieved in the implementation of topics decided upon and a prompter feedback by the municipal administration. More than 80% of the surveyed companies confirmed an improvement of the economic situation in the municipalities where PPDs (Public Private Dialogs) were held.

Furthermore, platforms were created to provide actors of local economic development with opportunities to share knowledge and evaluate opportunities for future cooperation. The three Forums (north, central, south) are autonomously operated by the municipalities by now and take place two to three times every year. They serve as a basis for discussion for general problems and help to form comprehensive task forces. North Namibian topics, for instance, currently cover “town and regional marketing”, “business support” and “access to land for business”.

A local Conference for Economic Development was founded in 2009 and took place for the forth time in 2013. During three days local business sponsors can engage in dialog and are informed about the latest international trends of local economic development.

Many lead positions in cities and regions have been filled with staff from the programme’s pool of professionals, which emphasizes the importance of local economic development for Namibian overall development.

Conclusions

Further Information

GIZ-Website: Partnership for economic growth

Published: 19/05/2014

Contact

Harald Richter

Partnership for Economic Growth (PEG)
Senior Advisor Local Economic Development

Indo-German Energy Programme
Access to Energy in Rural Areas
Programme Head

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
1st Floor, B-5/2, Safdarjung Enclave
New Delhi – 110 029
India
 
T +91 11 4949 5353 Ext. 2167
harald.richter(at)giz.de 

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Categories: Local economic development Start-up promotion Location development
Regions: Africa Namibia

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