Recently Announced Namibia’s Unemployment Rate at 27% is Flaw, the Real Unemployment Rate is 54%

I’m an Economist, specialized in Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Predictive Analysis, and Economic Development. I obtained my BSc in Economics from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio USA, and I’m currently studying for my PhD in Economics.

The Namibian Statistics Agency recently announced that the unemployment rate in Namibia now stands at 27.4%, which is a whopping drop from the 2008′s estimate unemployment rate of 51%.

First of all, this is impractical for an unemployment rate of any economy anywhere in the world to drop by 23.6% within about 4 years without an economy experiencing a major rapid shock (boost or drop), especially since Namibia’s economic growth has been linear over the years with an average steady growth of about 4%.

In short, unless the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has included those Namibian workers who earn less than N$800 a month, who cannot be and should never be counted as employed since their wages cannot meet their daily living cost, and unless the NSA has included those who have given up looking for work due to the fact that they may have perhaps setup their own shebeens, street-corner makeshift tents to sell candies, and Kapana, who cannot and should never be included as employed due to the fact that their earnings cannot even afford them to pay for their living costs.

Hence, the unemployment rate recently released by NSA is wrong, flaw, and very inaccurate. The real unemployment rate in Namibia is more than 54%.

While else remains constant, numbers cannot lie!

MIT Provosts Stealing Our Groot Industrial Ecosystems Idea?

MIT provost Martin Schmidt and a group of MIT faculty members may be got hold of our documents through our Scientist, Robbie Jena, Co-founder and Chief Strategist of Groot Group, and now they are using our documents at MIT stating how America can rebuild and re-industrialize its economy for better employment creation and sustainability, but they are not giving us credit for it.

It was around June 2009, right after I graduated from The Ohio State University, I was invited by Liberia’s former finance minister, Mr. Braim, at his house in Columbus, Ohio to brainstorm with him on how to help develop and grow Liberia’s economy after many years of civil unrest.

After listening to him and his son, Samuel Braima, my then classmate at The Ohio State University, I informed the ex-finance minister that the better way to help rapidly develop Liberia’s economy, was to setup and develop an economic ecosystem on a certain island, off of the coast of Liberia.

We discussed further how we could go about doing it, and his next step was to go meet with Liberia’s President in order to get her blessing and start with the project, a rapid industrial ecosystem.

In August 2009, I met up with Robert Grier in Columbus, Ohio over a cup of coffee, and we brainstormed on the idea. At that time after we discussed about the idea, Robert informed me about his partner Robbie Jena, a former NASA Scientist, who’s specialized in industrial ecosystems development based on his past China’s success. Then one day Robert and I went to the ex-finance minister’s house in Columbus, Ohio for our continued talk on the idea.

After a month of waiting for the appointment with the Liberian Government Officials for us to brief them on the idea and get started with its planning, development and implementation, there was a silence of waiting, and for us as entrepreneurs, we couldn’t wait, hence we proceeded with our idea’s planning and development, and it has since become, the Groot Rapid Industrial Ecosystem, which is composed of our industrial projects development in Namibia which some that are online now are; Tses Glass, Groot Steel (Otavi Steel), and Sitentu Power Plant.

You can see our Groot Corporate Brochure about our Industrial Ecosystems, look at the date when it was uploaded on SlideShare, March 2011.

It’s an honor to have MIT engineers, scientists, economists and policy specialists, including one Nobel Prize recipient, as well as Policy Makers at the White House looking and modeling on our Industrial Ecosystems development in Namibia, but it would have been better if they (MIT and the White House) had acknowledged us and given us some credit, instead of just using our idea for their own perhaps personification.

The only issue is this; there’s a difference between someone copying or stealing someone’s else idea, and the actual person who actually came up with idea, because in this case, it’s us at Groot Group (Simon Kapenda, Robbie Jena, and Robert Grier), and the one who copies or steals the idea is never capable and delivering the real realization of the idea successfully and efficiently, than the one who actually came up with it, especially us that are already doing it in Namibia.

MIT provost Martin Schmidt, please contact me at simon@grootgroup.com, to get the real practical knowledge on how to implement an industrial ecosystem. See our Groot site at http://www.grootgroup.com/leasing regarding our Groot Industrial Ecosystem

Read more about the White House blog at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/13/plan-revitalize-american-manufacturing and the MIT statement at http://www.boston.com/businessupdates/2013/02/22/nation-must-rebuild-industrial-ecosystem-spur-manufacturing-says-mit/6sKvKhCsSNwPilbrg5GdqO/story.html

Could Namibia Experience a Shortage of Workers?

The news article in Yahoo News today about a job creation effect in Ohio by the US Auto Industries shows that they are using a factor of 15.0 to measure their direct and indirect job creation effects, while I use a more modest, which is 5.0, as an average for the Namibia market.

That means, if 54,200 direct jobs in Ohio were created as a result of the auto manufacturers in Ohio, then as the articles shows, the indirect jobs are 850,000; meaning that per each 1 job created, 15 indirect job opportunities are created.

For me, I use a factor or 5, meaning that per each 1 direct job created, then 5 more indirect jobs are created. This is more modest and conservative in lieu of the Namibian mentality (always questioning if this or that is possible), but I don’t deem my factor to be the preferred perfect one.

But if I use a factor of 15, then Tses Glass as it’s estimated to create 47,900 direct jobs in Tses alone, then 718,500 indirect job opportunities will be created throughout Namibia as a result of the Tses Glass factory in Tses, and Otavi Steel as it’s estimated to employ 25,000 direct jobs in Otavi, then the indirect job opportunities in Namibia to be created from the Otavi Steel mill is 375,000.

For a total of about 1.1 million new direct and indirect job opportunities throughout Namibia to be created as a result of just two industrial projects; Otavi Steel and Tses Glass.

However, the Namibia’s workforce is only about 729,000; and if 15 is the factor to be used for the direct and indirect jobs’ creation effects, then Namibia is expected to experience a huge shortage of workforce when these two projects are commissioned at full capacity.

This shortage of the workforce could have a possible “cause-and-effect” trigger;- an exponential high rise in salary and wages compensation throughout Namibia, but with a sudden high inflationary pressure in Namibia.

Yes, Rome was not built overnight, so don’t expect these two industrial projects to be realized overnight, good things take time to develop and implement; as there are several factors to be done; planning, technical issues, politics, etc., before bricks are laid down and the ignition button can be pressed for the production starting of the factories.

We’re working!

Bank of Namibia’s Lowering the Repo Rate – What Does It Mean for You?

The Bank of Namibia, the central bank of Namibia, last week announced that it has reduced the repo rate to 5.5%, which is now at the lowest level since independence in 1990 while the prime lending rate is now at its lowest level since May 1974 when interest rates stood at 9%. (Economist.com.na).

But will this help you? The repo rate is the rate of interest that commercial banks such as Standard Bank, FNB, Nedbank, and Bank Windhoek charge each other; for example; if Standard Bank is possibly temporarily short of cash, it may apply for a loan from FNB or perhaps from BoN at that repo rate which it must pay it back at most within 24 hours.

Now, since the repo rate is lower, that means these commercial banks should charge lower interest rates on your new loan application. This is done basically that BoN is trying to encourage loan lending in the economy; to help increase cash flow and hence spending in the economy, and this could help increase or boost economic activities, hence economic growth on the macro level.

But does this work in Namibia? Perhaps not; with the unemployment rate in Namibia I’ve estimated it to currently be at 54%, that means more than half of the Namibian people are unable to apply and be qualified for personal loans. And those who are currently employed still may not be able to apply and get qualified for personal bank loans as desired due to; either that their salary and wages are lower or simply that most Namibians’ personal credit history reports have accumulated to an high adverse ratings that for most to apply and get qualified for personal loans at the four mentioned commercial banks in Namibia may not be possible.

So how does the lowering of the repo rate help the economy? Well, may be not much, but it’s better than nothing.

And just because the repo rate is lower, this may not mean that these four commercial banks will actually lower their interest rates on your personal loan need; as their ultimate goal is profit making and not charity, and due to a possible lower demand (persons applying and get qualified for personal loans) vs the limited supply of commercial banks available in Namibia, these banks may not even succumb to lowering the current interest rate on your next personal loan application.

In short; the current lowering of the BoN’s repo rate may simply mean peanuts to most of the Namibian people.

What are the Socio-and-Macroeconomic Impact by Otavi Steel and Tses Glass?

The development of the Tses Glass Manufacturing Plant in Tses, Southern Namibia and the Otavi Steel Mill in Otavi, Northcentral Namibia, are estimated to have an exponential positive impact on the Namibian macro economy, as they will each cause to affect nearly every sector; from energy, water, roads, railway, shipping, mining, human capital, medical clinics, agriculture, education, and more.

These two industrial projects alone, are economic ecosystems by themselves, as more downstream developers and investors are expected to flock to the Tses and Otavi area to setup new interlinked businesses in order to offer diverse products and services for the Tses Glass and Otavi Steel workers.

Tses Glass and Otavi Steel have an estimated combined development and construction budget of US$9 billion (N$73.8 billion). The total estimated employment creation to be effected by their implementation is 58,000 direct jobs and 290,000 indirect sustainable job opportunities throughout Namibia.

Namibia currently has a population of about 2.2 million with an estimated workforce of about 33% or 729,000 of the population. The total current unemployment rate in Namibia is estimated at about 54%, which is about 393,700 of the Namibian workforce. With the development and upon the implementation of Otavi Steel and Tses Glass, these two industrial projects alone are projected to overall reduce Namibia’s unemployment from nearly 393,700 to 103,700, which is about 14% of the estimated 54% unemployment rate.

Now take the total value of the final products by these two projects alone per their planned annual gross production capacity, which the value is easy to determine as these products; the steel and glass, are traded openly on the market, hence the market price for each industry (glass and steel) is readily available, then they will add about US$37 billion (N$300 billion) value to Namibia’s GDP.

And this is a very good thing for Namibia.

The soonest we can all work together in our different capacity, the sooner we can help make this happen for Namibia and the Namibian people.

Africa’s Rapid Industrialization Begins in Namibia by Groot Group

The first time of doing something, anything anywhere, is always the hardest; but once you do it a few times, either successfully well or not, it gets easier with time, every time.

As Chief Economist, and now CEO of Groot Group, as well as Project Director for most of our industrial projects, I’ve learned a lot by dealing with certain things, either socially or politically, in Namibia in terms of developing Groot, Otavi Steel, and Sitentu Power Plant; but with our recently unveiled Tses Glass Manufacturing Plant, this is now happening fastest and easiest than any other.

Our achieved success from doing the Sitentu Power Plant and then the Otavi Steel Mill has made it easier for doing all of our other projects; and in addition, many of the world’s largest and leading companies from around the world have lined up and continue to line for our projects.

It’s now easier for us to plan and execute any industrial project and within less than 48 hours, we have a complete team in place, ready to take on the project; companies from the USA, South Africa, Europe and Asia, such as a team from South Africa’s largest, The Dickson Group and Germany’s largest Horn Glass Industries, will arrive in Namibia in coming days. A team from the US and another team from Cognex in France will also arrive in Namibia in early August for Tses Glass. More companies based in Germany, Northern Ireland, Russia, Italy, Israel, India, etc., are scheduling to come to Namibia for our Tses Glass Manufacturing Plant.

This fast approach for the development of Tses Glass is making it ready for the construction to begin next year in May, nearly at the same time as Otavi Steel, which starts in April next year.

We understand that Europe is currently in dire financial crisis, so as the US economy is also in the stagnant mode, and the US and European companies are shifting their profit yearning to the market where they deem lucrative, and Namibia, because of our Group’s initiatives, is at the forefront for them. In return, Namibia as a country and the Namibian people will enormously and exponentially benefit from these industrial projects’ development.

Just by combining the Otavi Steel Mill and Tses Glass Plant’s indirect employment creation opportunities in Namibia, about 260,000 permanent indirect jobs, just from these two projects, will be created in Namibia alone. But how did we get this number? Otavi Steel’s direct employment is about 23,500 and for Tses Glass is about 27,900. By adding those numbers together and multiply them by a factor of 5 (based on the fact that each 1 direct employment created generates about 5 indirect job opportunities), then you get 257,000 indirect job opportunities created just from two industrial projects in Namibia. And that will help reduce Namibia’s current unemployment rate of about 54% to about 21% within just the first few years of commissioning these two industrial projects.

For Namibia to realize Vision 2030 on time, and this is a fact that a “big rock” must be thrust into the Namibian economy by no later than 2018. And this “big rock” must be so huge that it will create long-lasting ripple effects to exponentially boost Namibia’s aggregate economy in full fast growth speed, but without jolting an inflationary pressure. And these two industrial projects; Tses Glass and Otavi Steel, as complemented by Sitentu Power Plant are part of this “big rock”.

On a macroeconomic impact level, just nearly as it’s expected in Otavi, so as it will happen in Tses. Currently, Tses is a small village with a small sparsely population of about 2500. However, as Tses Glass will require more than 27,900 direct workers, more and more Namibians are expected to flock to Tses in search of better paying jobs. As a results, Tses will need no less than 20,000 new homes. Taking at least 4 persons per each household, that will boost the Tses population to more than 80,000 within 4 years. And for this reason, Tses needs to develop at least 5 new suburbs with each suburb to be composed of at least 5,000 new homes. As these new suburbs are developed, there will be a need for clinics, retail stores, gas services (right now there’s only one small gas service which operates at certain hours of each day), barber shops, hospitals, colleges, schools, etc., in order to serve the expected fast rising residents of Tses.

Currently, Namibia’s population is mostly centralized; mostly in a few major cities and towns such as Windhoek, Walvisbay, Oshakati, and Swakopmund. The municipalities of these towns can barely keep up with the providing of basic services such as water, electricity and sewage to their residents. More and more shanty towns in these cities and towns around Namibia are mushrooming up exponentially as more Namibians are moving from the rural to urban centers in search of work.

And, as these towns, Otavi, Tses, etc., boost the demand for employment opportunities caused by our industrial projects, then some people in other areas as stated above are poised to migrate to these areas of Tses and Otavi in search of work. Hence the fastest and efficient cause of a population decentralization in Namibia in a relative short period of time.

Well, this is obvious that, as more Namibians get better and find better paying jobs, more will no longer be housed in shack houses with cold and heat temperature. Certainly, the cold and heat weather are some of the major contributing factors to many of today’s chronicle diseases that affect most of the Namibian people. But, as more and more people have better paying jobs, they will have access to better housing with good water, electricity and sewage; hence the reduction in unnecessary sickness, which currently impose high-rise in healthcare costs to the government. Then Namibia is poised to experience a lower death rate, but more healthy births; hence a fast but healthy growing population.

For Swaziland, we are currently to develop a 1200 MW Coal Power Plant in Swaziland, and for Zimbabwe, we have an industrial project idea that, if developed, could turn around the Zimbabwean economy and make it a first world country (developed economy) within just 8 years. Hence the Zimbabwean government needs to contact us quickly for the implementation of this awesome project that will exponentially boost its economy and help create long-lasting socioeconomic benefits for the Zimbabwean people.

Zimbabwe, please contact me now at my email at simon@grootgroup.com. Let’s get to work and make the Zimbabwean economy more beautiful.

Feel free to download and view our Groot Group Corporate Brochure with detailed approach to our Industrial Ecosystem Model.

Africa’s Largest Glass Manufacturing Plant Coming to Tses, Namibia

Our next exciting industrial project in Namibia is Tses Glass, a glass manufacturing plant being planned and organized for development in Tses, Southern Namibia.

This glass manufacturing plant is expected to become the largest dynamic glass manufacturing factory in Africa focused on producing glasses for your home, office, car, glass bottles, touch screen computing (for Apple’s iPad, Microsoft Surface, etc), and smart phones devices (for iPhones, etc).

Tses Glass seeks to partner with some of the world’s largest glass manufacturing equipment makers and technology providers such as Siemens for its planned dynamic glass manufacturing plant, which aims to help rapidly transform the local and regional economy of the Tses community, to make it one of the fastest growing areas in Southern Namibia.

Tses Glass is a joint-venture between Groot Group, Nissi, the Tses Community, and partners and is expected to employ more than 3000 new employees at its planned manufacturing plant in Tses. Tses Glass is part of the Groot Group ecosystem development in Namibia.

Please follow Tses Glass on its Facebook Page for the live updates and information and to learn more how we are doing in setting up this innovative glass manufacturing factory in Tses, Namibia.

Sitentu Power Plant, the Solution for Namibia’s Electricity Shortage

We’re a consortium of companies, who have carefully appointed and specially selected the world’s most experienced and best team for the successful development and on-time commissioning of the largest power generation station in Namibia, Sitentu Power Plant, a 900 MW Combined-Cycle Turbine Power Plant (CCGT) which is upgradable to 4000 MW.

Sitentu Power Plant has been specifically and solely designed to efficiently supply a clean, safe, reliable and more cost-effective electricity to Namibia’s national electricity company (NamPower) for the  distribution to all of Namibia’s rural and urban areas.

For the first time in the history of Namibia, the country will no longer be a net-importer of electricity but it will produce its own electiricy for the domestic and regional consumption.

Sitentu Power Plant is a joint-venture project between Groot Group and SDS Group, both are Namibia-owned and based companies, who have carefully selected and appointed the best and most experienced engineering team and partners from around the world such as South Africa, UK, US, and Asia, for the development and engineering of the Sitentu Power Plant.

We are more excited and look forward to its completion and commissioning by mid 2015. Please visit the Sitentu Power Plant’s Facebook Page with live updates on the related news and information.

Some Wealthy Black-and-White Namibians Are Anti-Economic Development to Benefit the Poor-Majority Black-Namibians.

Why would any individual, organization/institution, or agency in Namibia commit their time and financial resources in order to keep digging in my life and background just because of a development project that we have undertaken to do in Namibia in order to help improve the Namibian economy for the great benefit of Namibia as a country and the Namibian people?

Why go out of your way, spending time, and yes; getting paid under the table secretly for one reason; to destroy me and my character? Well, this is me as I am; everything about me is already known by all the articles and many fake and ridiculous tabloid articles written about me since we started with the development of these industrial projects in Namibia.

What’s so bad what we have set out to do in Namibia? What’s so bad for helping to enhance an economy so that many people who are currently unemployed and underemployed can have opportunities to earn and make decent living?

Why is it so bad that when the population in any economy is well-off in terms of employment and financially; that the population is more healthier, and if more healthier then the costs of health related that the government incurs in medical treatment is down, then the population increases, death decreases, productivity increases, crime rate decreases, and overall, the country’s well-being is better off?

Why would anyone try so hard to stop the projects that we have started which overall are designed to benefit the country, Namibia?

What’s it that you hate about me? What’s it that you hate about Namibia? What’s that you hate the Namibian people who are living in poverty, who most if not all of them, are blacks? What’s it that you can’t stand to see these black people being helped to improve their overall social living?

Are you so heartless that it makes you smile when these people go to bed without food; their kids be without school, their lives being basically shattered and trashed in shanty towns with no basic services; electricity, running water, no toilets, cold and warm zinc roof houses, dusty living, eating awful bad food, just because they failed to be you by their fundamental creation?

What’s that you really hate about Namibia? What’s it that you are really afraid of?

Look, I also have information on many people including you; information that if I post it on here will make you perhaps never be able to earn and make a living ever. But that’s not me; I am not here to fight you or anyone. I am not interested in your personal life, I honestly care less about you; I don’t even not for one second even think about you or what you have done or doing in your life; all that I care about is for me to focus and work tirelessly, 24/7, sacrificing myself to work with our team, our partners, our people for the sake to help contribute my tiny portion to the development of Namibia’s economy.

I am not interested in politics. I am not interested in ever working for any government in any capacity; yes, I can do and I have done some certain consultancy work, unpaid, for certain Ministries in Namibia, just to help improve their certain work flow, but i am not looking for any political position of any kind or in any government position.

All that I am interested in doing is what we have started doing at Groot Group, finish these projects, and go back to my old life; to continue my study and work in my private business.

But just because I said above that i am not here to fight anyone personally doesn’t mean that I don’t get tired; and if i do, trust me, you don’t want me to do what i am capable of doing, and yes I can and able to write and post all your secret information and data that you never wanted anyone to ever know.

For me, all I want to do is to focus on what I am doing now with those who are willing and happy to work with me and our partners for the fast realization of what we have started to do in Namibia; Rapid Industrial Ecosystem Development which is in line and accordance with the Namibia’s National Development Plans (NDPs), Vision 2030, and the SWAPO Manifestos.

Please don’t push me to take irrational measures; because if that happens, it won’t be pretty for you.

Forgive but Never Forget – Cassinga May 4, 1978

It was a horrific massacre; more than 600 of innocent Namibian men, women, and children were brutally killed by the South African Apartheid government on May 4, 1978 in Cassinga, Angola. They were massacred not because of any wrong doing but because of their audacity of apartheid, racism, and discrimination intolerance in Namibia.

It was in the morning hours when innocent men, women and children were in the Cassinga camp inside Angola, a place of refugee that they called their home away from Namibia due to severe racial discrimination in Namibia by the South African Administration which only ended on March 21, 1990.

On that day, more than 600 men, women and children were busy with their daily chores and school activities as usual, but then they heard a sound of airplanes, that they all ran outside to glare at the sky thinking and hoping that the planes were coming to deliver bags of food (as usual); they then stood glaring and staring at the morning blue sky as they watched tiny dark objects falling from the planes towards them, but unfortuneately, they were no bags of food but bombs and more bombs delivering an unsuspected and horrific death.

When the tiny dark objects hit and blasted below their feet, they had no were to run and hide but watched as the hatred blaze of fire and bullets hitting and combing through every place of the whole Cassinga camp area, delivering harsh, brutal and hatred death in an instant of a moment.

More than 600 innocent people; women, children, and men died on that day, specifically for me, so that today I’m free to walk at anytime, anywhere in Namibia without being discriminated against because of the color of my skin, race, national origin or political party affiliation. That today, my children and future grandchildren will be able to attend any school of their own choice in Namibia without being subjected to harsh discrimination because of the color of their skin, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or creed.

Those men, women and children, who died on that day, contributed immensely to the independence of Namibia but without ever tasting the fruits of their labor that Namibians are indiscriminately and lavishly enjoying today. Their blood that shed on that day, have brought me my personal liberty and freedom that enable me to travel in and out of Namibia without being subjected to harassment and severe punishment simply because I am black.

Today, I gladly honor and celebrate this day in sadness that, being black in Namibia, that I now have a voice; my civil and human rights to air and voice my personal views without being subjected to censorship and harassment. Today, I am who I am because those men, women and children who died on May 4, 1978 in that horrific and brutal hatred death of an unsuspected instant, just because of their race, skin color, and political belief; today I am doing what I love doing, and it’s because of them; those heroes and heroines, who died on that day in Cassinga and those who survived to witness and tell their stories today.

On that day, it could have been my brother, Daniel Jacob Kapenda, who as a SWAPO Plan fighter died in Katima for the love of Namibia.

May 4, 1978 is the day that should never be forgotten by any Namibian and friends of Namibia, regardless of his or her political party affiliation, religion, race, creed, color of skin, sexual orientation, or gender.

That day, May 4, 1978, is the day that will forever live in infamy. Yes, forgive but never forget!

The only absence of war is peace; let peace prevails!