Namibia continues to be plagued by wide wealth gap, income disparities: president

   WINDHOEK, July 31 -- Namibia's robust governance architecture, defined by peace, stability, unity and the rule of law, remains intact after 29 years, according to the country's president, Hage Geingob on Wednesday.
   The president highlighted this point in his keynote address at the two-day Economic Growth Summit which kicked off in Windhoek, Wednesday.
   Despite the country's achievements in governance, deficits persist in the socio-economic architecture, he said.
   "Too many of our people face the scourge of poverty daily, while a large wealth gap and income disparities persist from our history of systemic exclusion," he added.
   According to Geingob, the status quo cannot continue and these structural imbalances will be redressed.
   "It is in light of this background and the prevailing economic climate, that I announced in my 2018 State of the Nation Address, government's intent to convene an economic summit of this nature," he added.
   Geingob appointed a High-Level Panel on the Economy in March 2019 to look at the alternative, practical solutions, aimed at redressing the triple challenge of unemployment, income and wealth inequalities, and poverty.
   "This Economic Growth Summit is, therefore, a flagship output of the work of the panel and is expected to yield private-sector-led economic revival," he said.
   According to Geingob, the two-day event is no ordinary economic summit but rather an undertaking to determine the economic destiny of the country.
   Geingob said the expected outcomes of this summit should result in positive, long-term impacts on the country's economy. Xinhua