Over 170 future innovators and skilled professionals are in the spotlight as the Fourth National Skills Competition officially opened on Monday at Swakopmund.
The event aims to showcase talent and is a bold statement about the country's commitment to building a competitive, innovative, and future-ready workforce.
It was a night of pride and celebration as young men and women from across Namibia gathered to compete for the prestigious title of National Skills Champion.
They represent the best of their region's vocational training sector, having earned their place through a rigorous selection round.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah paid tribute to the organisers and competitors.
She stressed the importance of technical and vocational training securing Namibia's economic future, saying skills competition speaks directly to the long-term vision of transforming and strengthening the TVET sector.
The President reaffirmed her commitment to supporting innovation, enhancing competitiveness, and ultimately securing prosperity for generations to come.
Her speech, read on her behalf, highlighted reforms already underway, including the upgrading of vocational training centres into full-fledged TVET colleges.
"Physical training environments and industry-relevant qualifications are only part of the solution. For this transformation to bear real fruit, we must ensure that our graduates embody innovation, flexibility and adaptability, qualities that will strengthen Namibia's workforce for the future."
She further noted that the country's first public TVET college will soon be a reality, providing higher-level qualifications and producing a workforce ready to meet global demands.
The Minister of Education, Innovation, Sports, Youth, Arts, and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, stressed that recognition for TVET is no longer enough.
"The days of mere recognition of the importance of TVET in national development and acknowledging its role as an impactful vehicle for acquiring employable skills are over, because mere recognition is not enough to support the sustainable economic growth we seek as a country. We must link our TVET reforms to clear and realistic national economic and human resource development goals that consider values, culture and rate of technology uptake, as well as the impact of globalisation on our domestic skills development agenda."
The minister warned that Africa risks being left behind in the global technological revolution, with only five per cent of Africans currently employed in high-skilled digital jobs.
To ensure Namibia's young people are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, she urged bold collaboration among government, industry, and communities.