Promoting Entrepreneurship amid Youth in Windhoek’s Informal Settlements: A Namibian Case

Abstract

Considering the high unemployment rate among Namibian youth and a lack of job opportunities, the promotion of entrepreneurship has gained wider attention in the country. A number of initiatives have been started such as entrepreneurship trainings and workshops, business idea competitions, etc. All these aim to inspire young people to think of alternative income sources. As part of a two-year funded community outreach research and development (R&D) project, we have investigated participatory approaches to engage marginalized youth into conceptualizing their own context, imparting skills, and deriving new career paths. This paper reports and reflects on one of the interventions we have recently concluded with a group of youth in Havana, an informal settlement in the outskirts of Windhoek. We conducted what we entitled "The Havana Entrepreneur", a series of interactions inspired upon the model of the American reality game show "The Apprentice". Over a number of weeks two youth groups were given challenges to tackle by means of competing against one another. After completion of each challenge, groups were rated by a number of judges on skills demonstrated such as marketing, presentation, reflection and creativity among others. We observed an increase in, and improvement of skills revealed along tasks' completion, besides an openly expressed self-realization and discovery of abilities by participants. Moreover, the youth are currently engaged in the continuation of activities beyond the initial entrepreneurial interactions. Thus we suggest replicating "The Havana Entrepreneur", including the recording on camera of it by the youth themselves as a new mode to instigating a wider entrepreneurial spirit in informal settlements.

A Multi-Faceted Approach to Improving Public Services in Low-Income Housing in Windhoek, Namibia

“…Surprisingly, access was restricted to tourism, green spaces, safety, and disaster prevention. This contrasts with the findings of Winschiers-Theophilus et al [89], which focused on tourism and green spaces. Limited studies have focused on fire safety, and many residents in Windhoek emphasised this because of the hot weather in summer and the use of wood as a source of heat energy with the potential for fire outbreaks in informal settlements [72].…”

“…This also shows lapses in the urban resilience structures of the communities. Despite the opportunities for tourism and the use of green spaces, as Windhoek is a city for tourists [89], there is no access to tourism or green space facilities in the neighbourhoods studied. Xu et al [87] identified residents' coping styles with the risk posed by a disaster, including the variables found in Figure 8.…”

Local tech mediators - a human access point to global crowdfunding platforms

“…In 2014 Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) established a long-term collaboration with marginalised youth in Havana, an informal settlement in Windhoek, Namibia, to co-design digital services aimed at improving the well-being of community members (Winschiers-Theophilus et al 2017). National and institutional ethical approval was granted for the project as well as sub-activities, such as the one presented in this paper.…”

Entrepreneurship education in Namibia: A study of tertiary education classroom practices

“…The narrower definition associates entrepreneurship education with a specific course aimed at training young people to start their own business, while the wider definition focuses on general skills that all students should learn and that are considered helpful in preparation for life in general (Fejes et al, 2018). Previous studies have cited different objectives and purposes of entrepreneurship education, including: to acquire knowledge and skills; to identify and stimulate entrepreneurial drive, talent and skill; to encourage self-employment; to encourage new start-ups and other entrepreneurial ventures; and to impart the necessary skills to promote the creation of SMEs (Alberti et al, 2004;Winschiers-Theophilus et al, 2017;Johansen and Lundhaug, 2016).…”

“…Although most entrepreneurship programmes and courses in tertiary education are offered at university level, some initiatives and interventions are also emerging in the vocational training centres. Furthermore, a number of entrepreneurial programmes and courses have been developed and are offered at various private and accredited smaller training institutions (April, 2015;Winschiers-Theophilus et al, 2017).…”