Tool to analyze socio-economic landscape launched
This week, an event was held in Windhoek to launch a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), which is a crucial tool for understanding and advancing the complex dynamics of Namibia’s socioeconomic landscape.
The SAM Model, developed with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing economic sector relationships and facilitating trade and tax.
NSA Statistician-general, Alex Shimuafeni in a statement at the launch said the initiative is a comprehensive and detailed accounting framework that captures the interrelationships among different sectors of an economy and various social groups.
“This tool provides a systematic way to organize and analyze economic and social data, offering valuable insights into the complex interactions within a society,” he said adding that through the SAM they can gain a clearer lens to examine the impact of policies, investments, and societal changes on the communities.
The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Executive Director, Lydia Indombo meanwhile underscored the model’s significance in assessing employment impacts for ongoing and upcoming projects, playing a pivotal role in project assessments and policy decision-making.
The launch event of the new SAM Model also included a stakeholders’ workshop to further empower key stakeholders with advanced training in Employment Impact Assessment (EIA).
Following the successful introduction of the EIA earlier this year in March, Namibia’s Ministry of Labour Industrial Relations and Employment Creation collaborated with the ILO and the NSA to update the Namibia Social Accounting Matrix to 2019 which was first developed by the Namibian Economic Research Unit 2002, which was subsequently updated in 2013.
