Year of Resilience: Here’s what’s up

Year of Resilience: Here’s what’s up Dr Hage Geingob



The year 2020, which I had declared as the Year of Introspection, will go down as one of the most tumultuous in modern history. It is a year where many of our beliefs were tested and our way of life upended. Dreams and ideas were shattered and plans were jeopardised.

Our processes, systems and institutions were tested. Although we were pushed to the brink, we did not break. That should be the enduring consideration we must carry into the new year.

One does not know one’s true strength until one is pushed to the limits.

If 2020 taught us one thing, it is the Namibian spirit of bravery, resilience, perseverance and persistence in the face of adversity. Therefore, the year 2021 is the Year of Resilience. The year 2021 brings with it a new promise of renewal and a new dawn of hope. We should take encouragement from the early rains, for which we are grateful.

Promise of revival

Not only do these rains bring with them the promise of revival, but they also speak to the idea that as the dark clouds in life fade away, they leave behind the light, in which we can pursue with resilience our happiness, growth, dreams and purpose.

Fellow Namibians, the past six years of my presidency have been fraught with untold challenges. We have faced unprecedented headwinds, brought about by a global economic downturn and characterised by falling commodity prices and exchange rate fluctuations.

To make matters worse, for Namibia, this economic slowdown was exacerbated by the worst recurrent droughts in our recorded history.

In the midst of this slumping economy, we were forced to deploy measures aimed at ensuring fiscal sustainability and in turn implemented the biggest expenditure cuts since independence. As a consequence of a slowing economy, a number of big and small businesses were negatively affected. Having staved off this testing period, we were anticipating the beginning of a phase of rebuilding in 2020. Regrettably, the arrival of an uninvited and unwelcome guest, Covid-19, changed the well laid-out plans of recovery.

Regretful lessons from Covid

The arrival of Covid-19 on our shores and its rapid spread across the country destabilised our plans and threw us off-kilter. Subsequently, jobs have been lost; a number of businesses have reduced their capacities or have closed down completely, and this has led to tremendous suffering for our people at a social, economic and psychological level.

With socio-economic activity slowing down, the optimistic economic prospects we had anticipated for the year 2020 came to nought.

Our central bank has estimated an annualised real gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of 7.3%, while our deficit is estimated to balloon to beyond 10% of GDP.

This level of economic recession is like nothing we have faced as a nation since independence in 1990. It is unprecedented. Covid-19 has had a seismic effect not only on our local economy, but the global economy as a whole.

Given the magnitude of the fallout ahead of us, we will have to respond with a bouquet of interventions that are unorthodox. In this regard, government has already delivered measures of relief through the N$8 billion stimulus package, a N$1 billion health response and a N$500 million small- and medium-enterprise financing intervention.

Let’s Harambee

The Harambee Prosperity Plan II (HPP II), which I will launch in February, will have a focused economic recovery component, prioritising important projects that will be delivered with urgency and transparency. Namibia has unmatched regional potential to tap into a renewed global focus on the blue and green economies.

To this extent, Namibia joined 13 other countries in 2018 worldwide to form the High-Level Panel on a Sustainable Ocean Economy and has also been the subject of various global conversations revolving the potential of our renewable energy resources.

The cabinet retreat held in December 2020 identified agriculture, education and health as three key priority areas. These areas are well covered in HPP II.

As we increasingly seek to advance our economic growth and capacity, we should be cognisant of the crucial role that investors play in bringing much-needed funding and expertise to our industries. We are in need of private investment in infrastructure, energy and water, amongst others. These investments will bring much-needed jobs. However, I have regrettably noted with concern that there is an increasing aversion towards foreign investment by certain sectors of our society.

Embrace investors

Recently, we have witnessed investors being received with hostility, either through negative reporting or through accusatory rhetoric. Such retrogressive attitudes do nothing to aid our economic recovery, employment creation and our long-term developmental objectives. In fact, the more we display an inhospitable attitude towards investors, the further we fall behind the economic race on the continent. The fact remains that in the absence of investment, we cannot move forward as a nation. To partially address this issue, I am looking forward to the inauguration of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board in January.

In the Year of Resilience, let us start a new page by rekindling the spirit of perseverance, solidarity and compassion. The spirit of solidarity and resilience is what defines us. Let us look out for our mothers, daughters and sisters. Let us drive responsibly and keep our roads free from the carnage of accidents through reckless driving.

Let us give gratitude and pay homage to our frontline medical personnel in the trenches of the difficult war against Covid-19. Some of these heroes of our land paid the ultimate price in their endeavour to keep us healthy. Let us show gratitude to our uniformed services, first responders and staff working in all these essential services. Let us come together as family, friends, neighbours and colleagues in a festive spirit of renewal.

Let us continue to hold hands and cherish Namibia, our beautiful home. I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2021. May God bless you all and may God bless the Republic of Namibia.



Dr Hage Geingob is the president of Namibia. This is an abridged version of his New Year’s speech delivered on 31 December 2020.