With nine years to go before the expiration of Namibia’s grand development plan, Vision 2030, the Government is reviewing the plan with a view to replacing it with one that speaks to the realities of the day. This was announced by National Planning Commission (NPC) director, Obeth Kandjoze, at a recent media conference meant to inform the nation about the Government's decision to liquidate the cash-strapped Air Namibia. At this event, Kandjoze said: “We must actually craft a grand-visioning statement that will replace Vision 2030… we must review Vision 2030. We must review NDP 5 to be able to fit into the economy post-COVID-19.” Vision 2030 stipulates that Namibia plans to be a prosperous and industrialised nation, developed by her human resources, enjoying peace, harmony, and political stability by 2030. “We have assembled a team of experts led by the National Planning Commission, assisted by the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Namibia and we’ve actually solicited the efforts and advice of Harvard University Growth Lab experts led by Professor Ricardo Hausmann, a renowned professional in the business of helping countries identify pitfalls in their setups from an economic structural point of view,” Kandjoze said. The growth lab works to understand the dynamics of growth and to translate those insights into more effective policymaking in developing countries. Kandjoze also said Namibia must position itself strategically to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). The former mines minister added: “We must have a stake in that vision. Going forward the economy is actually put at a display as to “what is agriculture achieving?” Back in its heyday, agriculture was contributing between 12 to 15% of GDP. Today agriculture is reduced to less than 4%. What are the causes of this? What are the structural policy changes that should come in to begin to help [the sector]?” Additionally, he said agriculture is at the heart of Namibia’s development agenda going forward. Other sectors such as mining are also under review. “The idea is to understand where the impediments are in our economic structural set-up so we can do away with those impediments, review the policies, understand the future of the particular sort of market in agriculture, mining and so forth so that we can position the economy post-COVID-19,” he noted. -NAMPA