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Contributions from
the Column
InWEnt News
With a cobbler's workshop to success
Water – cause of conflict and reason for cooperation
Capacity development – capacities for sustainable development
[ Interview with Frannie Léautier ]
"A new relationship between donor and recipient"
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[ Practical training programme for small-scale entrepreneurs in Namibia ]
With a cobbler's workshop to success
"Have you, too, heard about the training programme 'TOP Namibia'?" Mrs Kandombo, the owner of a small shoe shop, asked her neighbour Mrs Pea, who made curtains for private homes in Oshakati. "Yet another one of these workshops for small business people? There have been so many, and despite that we are not better off," replied Mrs Pea. This is how many local business people reacted when they heard about TOP Namibia, a training programme developed by InWEnt for small-scale entrepreneurs. It has been implemented in North Namibia since the end of 2000 by the German-Namibian consulting company Decosa together with the Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst [German Development Service] (DED), the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Namibian Education Ministry. Fortunately, the sceptical voices fell silent when the training began.
'TOP Namibia' stands for 'Training, Opportunities and Practice'; the programme is purposefully in place in the formerly disadvantaged regions in the populous North. The one-year course consists of five workshop and practical stages which build on each other, are accompanied by a DED development worker, and in which the new knowledge gained is applied. The 40 women and men participants of the two previous workshop cycles have to date developed more than 60 new products and services, captured new markets (even in exports), increased their profits and made an input to reducing poverty. They have created 154 new full-time jobs, 99 part-time ones and, indirectly, work for about 500 women in rural areas.
The dominant role of the women is remarkable. In the first two pilot courses they not only made up more than 50 per cent of the participants, but also 60 per cent of all who were distinguished as 'Top Achievers'. Mrs Kandombo now owns the only shoe repair shop in the whole of North Namibia, and Mrs Pea has successfully converted her curtain business to producing overalls. "I have learnt that it's no use constantly complaining about our disadvantages," she says, "we must fight for our economic independence. I have taken part in tenders invited by the government." She and her 14 employees now supply a great number of ministries, and her products replace goods formerly imported from South Africa.
Because of the great success of the pilot stage, a further programme cycle has been implemented in the Caprivi region since March this year. So that the regions benefit from the experiences on a lasting basis, representatives of local promotion institutions are also taking part.
Bernhard Adam( InWEnt, 'Sustainable Market Economy' Department )
Reinhard Trede (Decosa)
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