Stop Building the 17th Floor First: A wake-up call for Africa’s development priorities
The chatter around national development often sounds like a chorus of grand projects—futuristic skylines, glittering media hubs, and flagship “wins” that look impressive in headlines. Lately, Namibia has been cited in discussions about plans for a film city intended to rival Hollywood. While such ambitions can stimulate creativity, attract investment, and diversify economies, they also raise a core question: should governments chase headline projects while ordinary citizens face bread-and-butter challenges?
Across Africa, many observers argue for a shift in leadership focus. The call is consistent: prioritize youth-friendly policies, invest in human capital, improve basic services, and build the ecosystems that enable homegrown industries to thrive. The argument is not anti-vision; it’s opinionated about sequencing—getting the fundamentals right before expanding into high-profile, capital-intensive ventures that may not deliver immediate jobs or inclusivity for the majority.
Namibia’s film city plan: opportunity or misstep?
Namibia’s film city concept has the hallmarks of a bold, modern economy strategy. A cinema-creative cluster can attract global productions, create jobs, and place the country on the international map for storytelling and tourism. However, several questions deserve careful scrutiny: What is the anticipated return on investment? Who benefits in the short term, and how will local communities participate in the value chain? Are there accompanying policies to nurture local talent, small studios, and regional distribution networks?
Proponents contend that such a project could stimulate ancillary industries—hospitality, logistics, post-production, and training—while giving a platform for African narratives to be seen widely. Critics, meanwhile, worry about opportunity costs, especially when many citizens still struggle with reliable electricity, healthcare access, quality education, and secure jobs. The challenge is not to abandon grand visions but to align them with productive realities, ensuring the film city becomes a catalyst for inclusive growth rather than a vanity project.
The argument for youthful leadership in Africa’s development
One recurring theme in policy circles is the emphasis on youth leadership. Presidents and ministers who are younger—without discounting experience—tend to be more responsive to digital economies, entrepreneurship, and regional integration. Youthful leadership can accelerate reforms in areas like broadband access, digital literacy, and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) ecosystems that empower local creators, ranging from filmmakers to software developers and artisans.
That said, youth alone is not a silver bullet. Effective governance requires experienced stewardship, inclusive policy design, and accountable institutions. The balance lies in empowering a new generation with mentorship, robust institutions, data-driven decision-making, and transparent budgeting that foregroundes human development outcomes. When leadership champions both imagination and practical implementation, ambitious projects—like a national film city—can be connected to school curricula, vocational training, and local content mandates that guarantee visible benefits for communities.
How to harmonize vision with everyday needs
To reconcile such tensions, policymakers should consider a few pragmatic steps:
- Integrate film-city planning with national skills pipelines—ensuring local graduates and small producers gain access to training, funding, and contracts.
- Put the first floors in place: improve primary services (electricity, healthcare, water, education) to create a stable environment where large projects can thrive.
- Design inclusive financing models—public-private partnerships that share risk and ensure community benefits.
- Establish clear evaluation milestones and oversight that link project progress to measurable social outcomes (jobs created, youth employment rates, and regional development indices).
- Foster regional collaboration to share best practices across Africa, ensuring that policy experimentation benefits multiple countries rather than remaining isolated cases.
Conclusion: visionary goals, grounded delivery
The debate over Namibia’s film city and Africa’s leadership generation reflects a broader truth: highly ambitious projects gain legitimacy when paired with credible delivery mechanisms that improve people’s daily lives. A youthful, capable leadership team can chart a course that marries bold, creative ventures with strong foundational development. If the continent can achieve both—creative boldness and practical inclusion—then projects like a film city can be more than a headline; they can become engines of sustainable growth.
