Nkurenkuru — Former president Hifikepunye Pohamba has appealed to the youth ministry and the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) to fund youth enterprises that are aimed at reducing unemployment.

Pohamba made the remarks in a statement read on his behalf at the recent fourth Nkurenkuru Expo.

"It is disturbing to learn that our SMEs and youth are not participating in the current expo in big numbers, while the region is blessed with fertile land and a constant river for agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism," he stated.

The former president added that the challenge of unemployment is a major concern to the Namibian government.

He then highlighted that the government has adopted strategies to support local SMEs so that they can establish viable and self-sustaining businesses in order to create employment and improve livelihoods.

"The aim is to transform the structure, content and character of the domestic economy away from high dependency on the primary sector and exports of commodities, towards more value addition, as well as securing new export markets," he said.

This statement concurs with what Kavango West governor Sirkka Ausiku said in her recent state of the region address, that none of the registered youth enterprises has seen any funding or activity despite the region's efforts in establishing youth enterprises in the region's eight constituencies. They are still not functional and the region thus appealed to the ministry of youth to fund the projects, she noted.

Pohamba also called for continuous engagements between the Kavango West regional leadership and government institutions in order to decentralise government services to Nkurenkuru to speed up service delivery to residents.