Windhoek-The Fifth National Development Plan (NDP5), which was recently launched by President Geingob is the 5th NDP in the series of a total of seven National Development Plans that are to implement and achieve the objectives and aspirations of Namibia’s long-term vision, Vision 2030.
The game changers are: Increase investment in infrastructure development; Increase productivity in agriculture, especially for smallholder farmers; Invest in quality technical skills development; Improve value addition in natural resources; Achieve industrial development through Local Procurement.
During the NDP5 period, sustainable investments in infrastructure will be prioritized and sequenced to support industrialization and export development.
Energy: Where we are While nearly 75 percent of Namibians in urban areas enjoyed access to energy in 2015, only 24 percent of their fellow citizens in rural households had electricity in their homes.
The maximum electricity demand is around 656MW while at most only 484MW is produced domestically.
Desired outcome By 2022, Namibia has a sustainable mix of locally generated energy capacity of 755 MW to support household and industry development.
Given the trend of migration, urban domestic water demand (including manufacturing and industry) is estimated to increase.
Each rural constituency will have water access of above 50 percent.
Challenges Ageing water infrastructure and the development of the water infrastructure is one of the challenges which need to be addressed urgently.
For example, an important part of Namibia’s desert ecosystem is a phenomenon known as ephemeral rivers which flow for short periods of time following severe rainstorms.