With regional governors delivering their State of the Region addresses from all fourteen regions, Zambezi's governor Lawrence Alufea Shampofu is the latest to deliver his address, which he presented this morning.
Shampofu did not include sports in his address, apart from briefly mentioning some youth training programs under the Ministry of Sports, Youth, and National Service.
It's safe to say the sport industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars globally. With Namibia's population consisting of 71% youth according to the latest census, one cannot attempt to address youth challenges without considering sport. Sports have a profound impact on young people's lives, shaping their physical, mental, and social development.
In 2022, the Zambezi region claimed its first-ever Newspaper Cup title with a 2-1 victory over Kavango East at Oshakati Independence Stadium.
This demonstrated raw talent in the region that could be exploited to address unemployment among the youth.
No Namibian has ever played football in the lucrative English Premier League except for Ryan Nyambe, who hails from the Zambezi Region and has played in the English Football League Championship, the country's first division league.
Despite these notable achievements, Zambezi Regional Governor Lawrence Shampofu did not include any aspects relating to sports development in his address. This is how close the governor came to mentioning sports.
"To empower women and youth, the Ministry of Sports, Youth, and National Service, at the core of youth development, executed integration programs such as the 121 Rural Youth Enterprise, Namibia National Credit Scheme, and the G2G program funded by USAID.Through these programs, start-up businesses were funded to operate bakeries in Kabbe North and Katima Rural. Additionally, 140 young women and men were trained under comprehensive sexual education, gender-based violence, and economic strengthening curricula. Five beneficiaries also received business starter toolkits" he said.
It is sad to see sport relegated to the background, given its potential to make a significant contribution to the Zambezi region's economy.
Although notable projects were featured throughout the governor's speech, no sport activity or sport infrastructure development was highlighted.
NBC Sport will monitor governors' state of the region addresses to assess sport development across the regions.