Thirty-six years after Independence, Namibia has every reason to celebrate the expansion of higher education. Our universities have produced thousands of graduates, including an increasing number of master’s and doctoral degree holders.

Yet one uncomfortable question deserves honest reflection: has our highest level of academic education translated into innovation, industrialisation and sustainable employment, or have we become content with producing qualifications whose greatest impact often ends in university libraries?

Globally, universities have shifted from merely preserving and transmitting knowledge to driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and development. Namibia must assess if its higher education system is ready for this change.

This isn’t an argument to blindly copy foreign models but to learn from successful countries that connect research, innovation, and industrial development, and consider what approaches suit Namibia’s circumstances.

Every year, universities graduate more master’s and doctoral candidates, celebrating academic excellence and conferring the title of “Doctor’ on some. However, the ordinary Namibian faces unemployment, poverty, food insecurity, housing shortages, limited industrialisation, and an economy reliant on imported technology, machinery, and goods.

This isn’t an argument against doctoral education; a PhD is the highest academic achievement and vital for national development.

The key question is whether our doctoral system aligns with Namibia’s priorities.

A PhD signifies the highest academic achievement, demonstrating originality and new knowledge. Yet, success is often measured by lengthy theses that are examined and stored, not necessarily translated into societal innovations or solutions.

A nation cannot industrialise by producing documents alone. It does so by transforming knowledge into machines, technologies, medicines, software, agricultural innovations, engineering solutions, renewable energy systems, manufacturing processes, and businesses that create employment.

Namibia has invested heavily in higher education since Independence, expanding universities and increasing postgraduate programmes. Many countries have successfully aligned universities with development goals, ensuring research boosts industry, innovation, and economy. Namibia doesn’t need to copy these models entirely but should consider their lessons.

Germany, China, South Korea, Singapore, and Finland show how doctoral research links to industry, innovation, and development. Namibia imports machinery, technology, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and advanced goods from these countries. The lesson for Namibia is to connect more research to solving practical developmental challenges, not necessarily turn every project into a commercial product.

Namibia should aspire to achieve the same.

Our universities must increasingly become centres of innovation and production, not merely centres of academic publication. A doctoral thesis should not be regarded as the final destination of research. Instead, it should serve as the foundation for a prototype, patent, commercially viable product, manufacturing process, software application, medical innovation or new enterprise.

We should therefore ask:

* How many Namibians have obtained doctoral degrees since Independence?

* In which disciplines have they specialised?

* Where are they today?

* What technologies, patents or products have emerged from their research?

* How many businesses have been established through doctoral innovation?

* How many public policies, industrial processes or social innovations have been strengthened by doctoral research?

These are not questions intended to diminish academic achievement. They are questions about the return Namibia receives from its investment in advanced education and research.

It is important to acknowledge that Namibia has many talented scholars, researchers and professionals who are already making meaningful contributions to society through their expertise. The challenge is therefore not that Namibia lacks intellectual capacity. Rather, it is how we build stronger systems that translate more of this knowledge into practical solutions, innovation, industries, enterprises and opportunities that benefit the wider population.

This is particularly important in engineering, agriculture, health sciences, information technology, environmental sciences and other applied fields, where research should increasingly be measured not only by what is written but also by what is created.

Imagine engineering doctoral candidates developing prototypes, agricultural researchers designing technologies for Namibia’s droughts, medical researchers creating affordable healthcare innovations, technology graduates improving public services, and renewable energy researchers reducing dependence on imported tech. That is how nations turn knowledge into prosperity.

The government has a responsibility to reform research funding, strengthen university-industry partnerships, and create innovation ecosystems where doctoral graduates can commercialise their ideas. Universities must remain places of intellectual inquiry and academic freedom, and fundamental research will always be indispensable. However, in applied disciplines, Namibia should expect a stronger emphasis on tangible national impact.

Namibia’s future will not be secured by qualifications alone. It will be secured when knowledge is transformed into innovation, innovation into enterprise, and enterprise into national prosperity. The true measure of a doctorate should not simply be the thesis submitted to a university, but the lasting contribution it makes to society.

If we are serious about building a resilient, industrialised and knowledge driven economy, then it is time to ensure that our highest academic qualifications become catalysts for invention, entrepreneurship and national development.

The challenge before us is therefore not whether Namibia should produce more PhDs. It is whether we can build a system in which every doctoral graduate is empowered and expected to help build the Namibia we aspire to become.

*Hidipo Hamata is a former member of the 7th Parliament of Namibia. He writes in his personal capacity.