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Figure 60. Namibia: Official development assistance as a percentage of GNI, 1985-2008
Source: World Bank, 2010.
Namibia is a country of interesting socioeconomic contrasts. Poverty incidence and infant mortality are below Africa´s average, but the country presents the highest Gini coefficient
in the world. Progress in the Human Development Index HDI has been slow since Independence 0.657 to 0.686 between 1990 and 2007. High HIV prevalence rates
roughly 390,000 PLHIV affect over 15 per cent of the population and influence life expectancy, which is the same now as in 1985. Adult literacy and GDP per capita
contribute positively to improving the countrys position on the HDI, but enrolment in literacy programmes is now the sand in the wheels of the Governments attempts to
improve overall socioeconomic conditions. For instance, where the adult literacy rate was 76 per cent in 1990, by 2007 it had jumped to 88 per cent of the target population.
However, at the same time, enrolment of children in primary and secondary education was under 70 per cent during the 2000s after having reached a high of 83 per cent in 1995.
Table 12. Namibia: Socioeconomic conditions
Indicator Outcome
Year Source
Poverty incidence as percentage of total households 27.6 2008
Central Bureau of Statistics, 2008. Gini coefficient
74.3 1992-2007
UNDP, 2009. Human Development Index
0.678 2007
UNDP, 2009 Life expectancy at birth in years
60.4 2007
UNDP, 2009. Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
31.4 2007
World Bank, 2010. Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births
210 2005
World Bank, 2010. HIV and AIDS prevalence as a percentage of
population aged 15-49 17.8
2008 Ministry of Health and Social Services,
2008. Adult illiteracy rate 2007 as percentage of population
aged 15 or more 12
2007 UNDP, 2009.
Last column shows the sources for each individual indicator.
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8.2. Social protection: Programmes and public spending
According to a government statement in 2008, Namibias integral social protection strategy consists of more than 15 policy initiatives aimed at ensuring equitable access to basic
social and welfare services as a means of achieving equality and enhancing welfare – in
particular, access to these services for the underserved and un-served vulnerable and marginalized segments of society. They also seek to reduce inequalities in social welfare,
instil culture and morality in the population especially the youth and promote gender equality, in order to contribute to a more equitable society.
The full list of existing programmes is presented in table 13. Five different institutions manage all the programmes, with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry
of Gender Equality and Child Welfare and the Social Security Commission SSC as the key players in the social welfare strategy. Other programmes may not fall within the realm
of social protection, but they do have a social purpose for instance, the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement is in charge of securing land for the landless rural population through
resettlement.
Table 13. Namibia: Social protection programmes
Programme Managing institution
Old Age Grant Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
Disability Grant Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
Funeral Benefit Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
Places of Safety Allowance Ministry of Health and Social Services
Special Maintenance Ministry of Gender Equality and Children Welfare
Maintenance Grant Ministry of Gender Equality and Children Welfare
Foster Parent Allowance Ministry of Gender Equality and Children Welfare
Veterans Subvention Ministry of Veteran Affairs
Maternity Leave Sick Leave Social Security Commission
Death Benefit Social Security Commission
National Pension Fund and National Medical Benefit Fund
Social Security Commission Development Fund
Social Security Commission ECF Employees
’ Compensation Fund Social Security Commission
Housing programmes Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing
Motor Vehicle and Accident Fund Motor Vehicle Fund
Source: Government of the Republic of Namibia, 2008.
From a budgetary perspective, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for the allocation of resources for social assistance programmes, while the Social Security Commission
manages payroll contributions collected from employers and employees in order to finance the social insurance scheme.
8.2.1. Social spending and expenditure on social protection
Two main features characterized social spending in Namibia during the second half of the 2000s. First, it accounted for a significant share of production and total government
spending and, second, it followed an upward trend despite some cut-backs in 2008. Between 2005 and 2008, in fact, social spending constituted 14.9 per cent of GDP, a figure
that compares with that of South Africa 14.9 per cent and Botswana 15.5 per cent,
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exceeds the level of social investment in Mozambique 10.2 per cent of GDP but is still far below that of Lesotho 30.5 per cent.
During the same period almost 52 per cent of government spending was allocated to the social sector figure 61. This high average may reflect strong political support in favour of
stepping up investment in that area. In fact, with the exception of 2008, social spending kept growing from 48.5 per cent to 55.3 per cent of total government expenditure.
Figure 61. Namibia: Public social expenditure, 2005-2008
Source: Ministry of Finance, 2009; International Monetary Fund, 2010b.
Regarding the composition of social expenditure, education accounts for the highest share, but expenditure on social protection has been the fastest growing component in recent
years. Government spending on education averaged 6.2 per cent of GDP between 2005 and 2008, while social protection received the equivalent of 5.6 per cent of GDP and its share
increased by 18.2 per cent during the same period figure 62.
The pattern described here is a particular feature of Namibia that is not frequently observed in other nations. Typically, the tendency of neighbouring countries has been to allocate the
highest share of social spending to education, sometimes tripling the ratio of expenditure on education to expenditure on social protection. In Namibia expenditure on these two
component s is more or less the same. The share of housing in GDP fell by 27 per cent and was the subsector most severely affected by cut-backs.
