And Why This Single Priority Decision Keeps Us Dependent

I’ve worked in boardrooms where millions are approved for procurement in a heartbeat, but a request to fund Research, Technical Training, or a Feasibility Study is treated like an inconvenience. In those moments, something became clear to me:

Africa does not treat science the way it treats sovereignty.

Or at least “Not yet”.

Across the continent, we defend our borders with soldiers and budgets, but we do not defend our future with Laboratories and Engineers. Namibia is no exception. Our budgets reflect our fears, but not our ambitions.

The Historical Gap That Changed Everything

Africa did not fall behind because we are incapable or unintelligent. We fell behind because the world changed structurally, and we didn’t change with it.

While others were undergoing:

• The Scientific Revolution
• The Industrial Revolution
• The Technological & Digital Revolutions

Africa remained positioned as:

• A resource supplier
• A raw materials exporter
• A consumer of finished goods
• A client of foreign innovation

The result?

Europe and Asia built Capability, while Africa built Dependency.

This is not a moral judgment. It’s a structural one.

What We Spend Reveals What We Fear

In Namibia, and across the continent, national budgets tell the story clearly:

We fund:

• Defense
• Elections
• Public administration
• Political patronage
• State-owned enterprises
• Tenders feeding consumption

We underfund:

• R&D in Manufacturing and Materials Science
• Applied research in Energy and Mechanical Systems
• Ocean and Fisheries Science (while we export our fishery resources)
• Industrial Engineering programs that could support downstream sectors
• Naval Architecture and marine capability development
• Scientific Research in medicine, biotech, and agriculture

Africa averages 0.4% of GDP investment in research.
The global average is 2.2%.
Top performers invest 3–4%.

We are trying to participate in a modern world with 1950s-era resource allocation.

That is NOT a Leadership Problem.
That is a Prioritization Problem.

The Misunderstanding That Holds Us Back

A dangerous belief lives in our institutions:

“Research is a luxury we will fund when everything else is sorted.”

But here is the painful truth:

Research is the thing that sorts everything else.

• Without research, we cannot industrialise.
• Without industrialisation, we cannot create real jobs.
• Without jobs, GDP and tax revenue stagnate.
• Without economic growth, healthcare remains donor dependent.
• Without research funding, universities produce certificates, not solutions.

This cycle is not an accident.
It is designed by our priorities.

National Security Isn’t Just Borders Anymore

Modern threats are not only soldiers and missiles.

They are:

• Cyber attacks
• Technological exclusion
• Intellectual property dependence
• Foreign manufacturing monopolies
• Supply chain vulnerability
• Energy insecurity
• Data sovereignty

In my opinion, a Nation that Cannot Produce:

• Its own Medical Equipment,
• Its own Industrial Components,
• Its own Digital Infrastructure,
• Its own Agricultural Systems,

…is NOT Safe.

It is Surviving at the Mercy of Others.

What Purposeful Leadership Looks Like

African leadership must evolve from positions of authority to positions of purpose.

Purposeful leadership means:

• Reallocating budgets to future capability
• Funding scientific research as national infrastructure
• Incentivising industry to innovate locally
• Building laboratories before building office blocks
• Prioritizing engineers and scientists, not only administrators
• Making procurement secondary to production

This isn’t Ideology.
It’s Engineering.

A Practical 6-Point Blueprint for Namibia

If we want to Compete, not Beg, we need to Start Here:

1. Create a Research & Innovation Budget Floor

Minimum 1% of GDP dedicated to R&D.
Not optional. Non-negotiable. Same protection as defense.

2. Make Research a Tax Incentive Zone

Companies that invest in applied research receive:

• Reduced Tax Rate
• Accelerated Depreciation
• Earmarked Grants Tied to Job Creation

3. Establish Industrial Research Institutes

Like:

• Namibia Institute of Marine Engineering & Naval Architecture
• Energy Systems Research Centre (Green Hydrogen + Oil & Gas)
• Fisheries & Cold Chain Technology Labs
• Desert Agriculture Tech Labs

4. Protect Intellectual Property Locally

Patent automatically belongs to:

• The Namibian inventor
• The Namibian state (if funded publicly)

Licensing creates local revenue.

5. Anchor Research to Local Problems

No more theoretical dissertations with no application.
If the research cannot be applied in Namibia, what is the return?

6. Stop Hiring for Qualifications Alone

Hire for:

• Capability
• Track record
• System Thinking
• Professional Integrity
• Applied Skill

Not only degrees.

Because a certificate is evidence of study.
A result is evidence of understanding.

If We Don’t Make This Shift

We will repeat the cycle:

• Raw Materials ⟶ Exported
• Finished Products ⟶ Imported
• Jobs ⟶ Created Elsewhere
• Innovation ⟶ Owned by Others
• Taxes from Value Creation ⟶ Paid Outside Africa
• Dependency ⟶ Reinforced

And we should then be prepared if the next generation ask us:
– Why did WE Defend the Borders, but NOT the Future?

If We Do Make This Shift

I believe, within 20–30 years, Namibia could realistically:

• Build its own Ship Repair & Light Vessel Manufacturing Sectors
• Lead Green Hydrogen Engineering in Africa
• Develop Cold Chain & Marine Engineering R&D
• Manufacture Industrial Components for Southern Africa
• Scale Desert Agriculture Technology as an Export Economy

This isn’t Rhetoric.

It is Engineering Logic.

Final Thought

Africa will not rise because we say it will.
It will rise because we Engineer it to rise.

• Research is National Defense.
• Engineering is Economic Emancipation.
• Science is Sovereignty.

Until we fund them like they matter, we will remain a continent of potential that others harvest.

And I refuse to accept that as our destiny.

Please note:
I don’t think for one second that my account is a definitive account.
I offer it no more than an opening round in a conversation that I hope

End