The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation on Tuesday launched the 2019 Social Accounting Matrix Model (SAM) for Namibia.
The ministry’s executive director, Lydia Indombo, said the model provides a comprehensive framework essential for analysing the relationships between different sectors of the economy.
‘Its applications extend to areas concerning trade and tax policy, sectoral planning for various cross-cutting issues, and other related economic concerns,’ she said.
Indombo said the ministry worked together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) to develop SAM to update SAM to 2019, which was first developed in 2002 and last updated in 2013.
NSA Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni said SAM is an important milestone in understanding and advancing the local socio-economic landscape.
‘The Social Accounting Matrix is used to build economy-wide macroeconomic models explicitly designed to analyse the distributional impacts of polic
y change. Its applications extend to areas concerning trade, poverty, employment, tax, sectoral planning for various cross-cutting issues, and other related concerns,’ Shimuafeni said.
‘This matrix, a sophisticated tool that integrates various economic, social, and environmental factors, is a testament to our collective dedication to fostering sustainable development and inclusive growth.’
In a statement read on her behalf, Philile Masuku, Director of the ILO Country Office for Zimbabwe and Namibia, described SAM as a powerful tool that will shape the trajectory of Namibia’s economic understanding and policy decisions.
‘The SAM is a product of the ILO’s collaboration and cooperation with the European Union to strengthen the capabilities of country partners to analyse and design sector and trade policies and programmes, which would enhance employment creation,’ she said.
The Ministry of Labour also launched a workshop on conducting an employment impact assessment on the green hydrogen project, which is sup
ported by the ILO.
Indombo said the basic training on how to conduct employment impact assessments took place in April, while the two-day advanced training starts on Wednesday.
‘The assessment focuses on direct employment, indirect employment, induced employment, and the capacity effect. It considers both the number of jobs created, and the types and quality of jobs created,’ she said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency