Govt extends internships, raises allowances

Patience Makwele

The government has increased monthly internship allowances for students and graduates and extended placements from three to six months, Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare announced at the International University of Management’s (IUM) 22nd Summer Graduation Ceremony in Windhoek on Friday.

According to the Prime Minister, student interns will receive N$2 692.50 per month, up from N$2 244.85, while graduate interns will receive N$3 769.50 monthly under the revised arrangement.

The announcement comes amid concerns about graduate unemployment and calls for government to improve opportunities for young people entering the labour market.

Ngurare said the revised allowances were intended to strengthen support for students and graduates gaining practical workplace experience in public institutions.

“We have therefore decided to revise student interns allowance from N$2 244.85 to N$2 692.50 while for graduate interns the allowance is revised to N$3 769.50 per month. The duration is extended from three months to six months,” he said.

The student allowance has increased by N$447.65 per month, bringing the total payable over six months to N$16 155, assuming the allowance is paid for the full period. Graduate interns would receive N$22 617 over the same period.

Ngurare said interns from higher education institutions were already contributing across government offices, ministries, agencies and state-owned enterprises.

He urged public institutions to provide mentorship and practical training to help interns develop workplace skills and prepare for employment.

Speaking to the Windhoek Observer after the event, IUM graduate Selima Tulohole Shipanga welcomed the increase in allowances and the extension of placements, saying the longer period would give interns more time to acquire practical skills before entering the job market.

She said three months was sometimes insufficient for interns to cover the basic skills required in their respective programmes.

“The fact that the period for the internship has been extended from three months to six months is also a relief because right now, when you look at it, it simply means that interns have more to cover,” she said.

Shipanga said the longer placements could help graduates gain the experience needed to prepare for employment and improve their chances of securing jobs.

However, she raised concerns about limited job opportunities and alleged favouritism in recruitment, particularly in the public sector.

She said young people without connections to influential individuals could struggle to access opportunities, even when positions were advertised.

Shipanga called for measures to ensure recruitment processes were fair and gave applicants an equal opportunity, regardless of their family or professional connections.

She suggested that government examine recruitment procedures to prevent internship opportunities from being informally reserved for candidates already known to officials.

The announcement follows a proposal by justice and labour relations minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel to increase graduate interns’ monthly allowances from N$2 357.10 to N$3 700 and extend placements from three to six months.

Immanuel made the proposal in a letter to Ngurare dated 4 August, which was reported by the Windhoek Observer earlier this month.

Ngurare had previously expressed support for improving internship allowances, saying government needed to respond to concerns that the payments were inadequate.

“If these interns are saying we are not paying well enough, what do we do? We must pay them well enough. And I know there is a proposal on this, and I will support it,” he said at the Government Human Resource Conference in September.

The latest announcement raises questions about when the revised allowances will take effect and how the changes will be implemented across government institutions.

In April 2025, government directed offices, ministries and agencies to budget for internship and apprenticeship programmes. The arrangements included six-month placements for student interns and two-year placements for graduate interns, with a monthly allowance of N$3 500 for graduate interns.

It remains unclear how the latest announcement will affect the existing arrangements, particularly the duration of graduate placements and the allowances paid under the earlier directive.

The changes also come as government restricts recruitment into non-critical public service positions because of budgetary constraints, while allowing recruitment in critical areas such as health and education to continue.

The restrictions have heightened concerns about opportunities for young people seeking entry into the labour market, particularly graduates who rely on internships to gain practical experience.

A graduate tracer survey reported in September found that 33% of respondents from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 graduating cohorts were unemployed, while 61% were employed and 4% self-employed.

The survey covered graduates from the University of Namibia (UNAM), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), IUM, the Institute of Open Learning and the Namibia College of Open Learning (NamCOL). However, only 9 063 of the 32 811 graduates targeted participated, limiting the extent to which the findings can be generalised to all graduates.

Ngurare said government was prioritising employment creation and skills development under the Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6).

He also encouraged graduates to consider entrepreneurship alongside formal employment, pointing to the government’s collateral-free Youth Development Fund as one of the initiatives intended to support young entrepreneurs.

The call was echoed by IUM founder and council chairperson Professor David Namwandi, who offered potential financial support through the David Namwandi Trust for graduates with viable business proposals.

Namwandi said the trust was prepared to provide seed capital for projects, including the establishment of kindergartens and primary schools.

“There is a trust called David Namwandi Trust, which is prepared to help you, provided you produce a tangible project. You will be funded. You receive a seed capital. And I believe that you can make it,” he said.

He encouraged graduates to collaborate on business ideas in the education sector.

“So when you establish a business, being a teacher, you can start with a kindergarten or a primary school. You can join hands four or five of you. David Namwandi will fund you,” he said.

The funding offer could provide an alternative for graduates seeking to establish businesses, although details on the amount available, eligibility requirements and the application process were not provided.

The announcements were made on the opening day of IUM’s summer convocation, where 826 education students graduated with qualifications including diplomas in pre- and junior education, honours degrees in junior primary education and bachelor’s degrees in senior primary education.

Ngurare did not specify when the revised internship allowances would take effect.

The National Assembly has passed the Public Enterprises Governance Amendment Bill [B. 10 – 2025], which shifts direct oversight of individual public enterprises to the ministers responsible for their respective sectors while centralising key governance directives under the Prime Minister.

The amendment changes the Public Enterprises Governance Act of 2019 by removing the provision for a single minister responsible for public enterprises.

Instead, each entity will fall under its relevant line minister, defined as the minister responsible for the sector in which the entity primarily operates.

The Prime Minister, acting in consultation with Cabinet, will be empowered to issue binding directives published in the government gazette on employee remuneration and benefits, board appointments and removals, and the appointment, suspension and dismissal of chief executive officers and senior management.

The directives will also cover integrated strategic business plans, budgets, investment plans and corporate dividend policies.

Under the amended framework, line ministers will represent the state’s ownership interests in the entities under their portfolios.

Their responsibilities will include appointing and removing board members in line with the Prime Minister’s directives, approving annual business plans, entering into performance agreements with board directors and submitting annual reports to the National Assembly.

For commercial public enterprises, the relevant ministers will also exercise the government’s shareholder powers.

These include approving major corporate transactions, significant changes to capital structures and the acquisition or disposal of material assets.

Such decisions will require the concurrence of the minister responsible for finance and the approval of Cabinet.

The amendment also introduces term limits for board members. Directors will serve three-year terms and may be reappointed for one additional term.

A third consecutive term will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances where the board faces a severe shortage of the required skills, following consultation with the Prime Minister.

Commercial public enterprises will also be required to establish formal dividend policies.

These policies must be submitted to the Prime Minister for scrutiny before approval by the relevant minister, with the concurrence of the finance minister.

The legislation further provides for the retrospective validation of actions taken by the relevant line ministers, the finance minister or the Prime Minister in relation to commercial public enterprises from 21 March 2025 until the new law comes into operation.

The Public Enterprises Governance Amendment Act, 2025, will take effect on a date to be determined by the Prime Minister through a notice published in the fovernment gazette.