Skills Development in Namibia

Topic:  Skills development in the financial sector:  A Namibian case study

HN Muyoba

Student No. MYBHER001

Assignment 1:  Literature Review

Research Methods

BUS5004W

MPhil:  People Management (2014 intake)

Contents

1.        Introduction        

1.1        Definitions        

1.2        Background of the Study        

1.3        Aims of the Study        

1.4        Study objectives        

2        The research problem        

3        Research Questions:        

4        Literature review        

4.1        International perspective        

4.2        African perspective        

4.3        Namibian perspective        

5        Conclusion        

6        Bibliography        

1. Introduction

A functional financial sector is essential for economic development. Importantly, a strong financial sector, however, relies not only on the sound organized infrastructure, but also on the ability of its human resources.  Human resources are critical in the development of the financial sector. Investments in human capital are influential in shaping the financial services industry where knowledge, skill, competencies and capabilities have become key strategic drivers of productivity, competitiveness and growth (BNM Financial Sector Development, 2015).  With globalization, the need for capacity building in any country’s financial sectors becomes even more critical to ensure that experts within the industry will be able to keep up with the new changes brought about by the implementation of the international financial standards, such as IFRIS.  In the next decade, there are likely to be many changes in the type of skills needed by the financial services industry.   New roles will be created, and existing positions modified. As such, it is crucial that the financial services sector continuously improve the quality of its human resources and ensure an adequate supply of qualified human capital for future growth (Namibian Financial sector charter, 2009).

1. Background of the Study

Skills shortage was identified as one of the biggest obstacles for the Namibian government to reach its economic growth targets (Joint initiative on priority skills acquisition, 2015).  A number of studies conducted by the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industries (Institute for Public Policy Research, 2010, 2011) and Namibia Employers' Federation confirms such shortages (Links & Frederico, 2010).  The 2014 global competitiveness report concluded that an inadequately educated workforce; poor work ethics in the national labour force and insufficient capacity to innovate were among the sixteen areas that cause difficulties in running business successfully in Namibia (World Economic Forum, 2014-2015).  According to the Namibian Training Authority (NTA), Namibia needs qualified, skilled and motivated people in order to attain its Vision 2030 (Namibian Sun, 2015).  Vision 2030 is the national developmental objective to turn Namibia into an industrialized country by 2030

The Namibian government through the Ministry of Finance, developed a financial sector strategy covering the period 2011 -2021 which focuses amongst others on, Skills development in the financial sector (Ministry of Finance Namibia, 2011).  The approach supports the National Human Resources Plan 2012 -2025, in which a net demand of 19,074 positions were estimated for the financial sector for the 2012-2015 period.  The National Human Resources Plan also directs sectors to come up with sectorial plans to address the skills gaps in their respective industries in the country (Namibian Government, 2012).