The impact of Namibian reclassification as an upper-middle income country on Official Development Assistance.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyse the impact of Namibian reclassification as an Upper Middle Income Country on Official Development Assistance (ODA). This study was prompted by the negative perception that was going on in the country about the reclassification and how it reduces ODA while on the contrary having the knowledge that Namibia is striving to become an Industrialised country with a high income status by 2030. In order to address the issue of the negative perception about the eclassification as the contributor to reducing ODA, the research approach selected was a descriptive qualitative interpretivist approach. A mix of primary and secondary data analysis was employed to gather information on the subject matter. Interviews were conducted with experts in the field of foreign aid to obtain views and feelings on the reclassification and how Namibia could better manage ODA. However the study revealed that although there were some donors who phased out traditional assistance to Namibia, the reason is not necessarily because of the reclassification. Hence the perception that the reclassification reduces ODA could not be proven, since ODA flows to Namibia after the reclassification were even higher than before. Given that ODA will eventually reduce because of global changes in the ODA architecture, the study recommended that Namibia start positioning herself to influence the ODA architecture in her favour. It is also recommended that the National Planning Commission (NPC) prepares an ODA strategy that will be aligned to the National Planning and Budgeting system to guide policy makers and to avoid donors to drive the development cooperation agenda in Namibia. It was further recommended that timely communication and proper consultations be held with donors in preparation of donor exits.