Namibian workers set to benefitfrom Berlin cooperation

The Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK Berlin) wants to set up a new vocational school in Windhoek. The Namibian’s Arne Schütte (AS) spoke with IHK Berlin president Sebastian Stietzel (SS) about the plans.

Why does the IHK Berlin want to train skilled workers in Namibia?

We have been dealing with the challenges of the labour shortage here in Berlin for a long time. We currently have a shortage of around 90 000 skilled workers, and the business community is telling us that it is no longer just a shortage of skilled workers, but a shortage of workers in all sectors. Looking at our own potential, it quickly becomes clear that we are inevitably dependent on the influx of foreign workers. Even if we were to bring all the unemployed, all those who are now in school and all part-time workers into full-time employment, we would still not have closed the gap.

Why did you choose Windhoek as a partner?

Windhoek has been a partner city of Berlin since 2000. So, cooperation between our cities is nothing new. But, there are other reasons that speak in favour of Windhoek: Namibia is in the same time zone as Germany, which makes cooperation much easier. The fact that English is the official language in Namibia provides good conditions for our training programmes. There is also a high affinity for the German language in Namibia. This is important for integration into the labour market. Youth unemployment in Namibia is very high, at 38%. So, there is a great deal of interest from the Namibian side in terms of cooperation that gets young people into work. Windhoek mayor Queen Kamati has made this clear to us time and again.

How big is the potential? How many people do you want to train each year?

The potential is huge. Last year, there was a pilot project run by the Goethe-Institut Namibia, a language course whose graduates were offered an internship at a German company. Approximately 7 000 Namibians applied for the 25 places on offer.

In Windhoek, 8 000 people go through a municipal vocational training centre every year. Of these, 60% remain unemployed. We expect that around half of these people are willing to undergo higher vocational training. We are, therefore, talking about a potential figure of 2 500 to 3 000 graduates per year. Of course, we can’t set up a training centre for 3 000 trainees from one day to the next. But the potential is great, as is the demand in Berlin.

What is your timeline?

The idea was born in February, and over the last few months, we have worked out a plan with German and Namibian partners. We are aiming to sign an agreement in Windhoek this month, and we expect to open the training centre in 2026.

Which professions will you train for?

We want to focus on the professions in which the demand for skilled workers is highest. This will certainly include areas like business services and hospitality, but also job profiles from industry and trades. The focus or specialisation will also depend largely on the companies that will cooperate with the training centre.

In which language will the training take place?

The vocational training is conducted in German. We want to prepare the trainees for the German job market in the best possible way. The quickest way to learn a language is to hear and speak it constantly. But, if necessary, our trainers can of course also explain things in English. It is a great advantage that we can fall back on a language that both sides understand. This is not possible in other countries, where the official language is not English.

Will you will bring trainers from Germany to Namibia?

We will initially start with German trainers. But we also want to train Namibian trainers. In this way, we will also contribute to Namibia’s development in the long term.

The focus of the cooperation is on training for the German labour market. How exactly will the Namibian economy benefit from this?

Yes, it is our intention that 100% of the trainees could end up in the Berlin labour market. However, based on experience, we also know that around 20% do not want to leave the country. These people are then available to the Namibian economy. In the medium term, the project will also be open to Namibian companies. Some have already expressed an interest in supporting a training centre and then benefiting from its graduates.