**6.1. Discussions with Mr. David Namalenga**

working environment, and uses child labourers. About 11% of overall child population is engaged in child labour, of which nearly 60% is in agriculture. This also leads to human trafficking. About 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, of

• Co-movement of domestic politics with international political risk is also common today. The Arab spring that began in 2010 in Tunisia spiralled all over North Africa and Middle East with protests, coups, and civil war that is responsible for massive civilian displace-

Evidently, globalisation is good for the world as countries have access to global markets, but pressure is heavily placed on the world's poor as only wealthy countries and/or corporations

This paper utilises secondary research documents and in depth interviews with some of the

• In depth interviews: These interviews allowed the author to gain a deeper insight into the feelings of participants towards the subject, as hearing the word Ramatex for many still feels like a sharp knife piercing through human flesh. The authors interviewed Mr. David Namalenga, a unionist turned businessman, who is managing Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies, a Namibian garment manufacturing company that have taken over the textile industry after the closure of Ramatex. Also interviewed is Mr. Herbert Jauch, an expert in labour issues and an author of a book featuring Ramatex in Namibia. The in-depth interviews also afforded the researchers an opportunity to gain the trust of the informants, and allowed for probing to get

• Secondary research documents: The papers also reviewed journal articles, conference papers and newspaper articles to get the general feeling of the people of Namibia and developing countries. This method also provided the globalisation link and its impact between developing and developed countries. This gave the researchers the opportunity to understand the communities better. With in-depth interviews it is essential that one spent a reasonable amount of time with the informants and this indeed enhanced the rapport, as there was a great opportunity for common understanding and confidence and trust

Entrepreneurs' success, especially small-scale businesses, depends on their ability to be competitive in the global market even if they do not compete globally [5]. Developing relationships with multinationals is key to the success of small-scale businesses, thereby developing

key stakeholders, which experienced the changes of those who lost their jobs.

a clear understanding and accurate of information from the informants.

between the parties which lead to detailed and accurate information.

which half are children and 80% are female.

ments, terrorism, and killing of innocent civilians.

with resources and better capacity gets the larger share.

**5. Research methodology**

98 Globalization

**6. Discussions and findings**

Mr. Namalenga is the founder and Managing Director of Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies. He is of the opinion that the impact of globalisation on small firms such as Dinapama is that one is able to find new strategies, technologies and market in the world. There are however also challenges as small firms sometimes lack capacity to utilise such opportunities due to the non-levelled playing field, thereby ending up being overshadowed by large corporations and eventually close-down.

Mr. Namalenga revealed that the strategies Dinapama have employed to fill the gaps left behind by Ramatex is growth at home. He said that Ramatex was supplying the world, while Dinapama want to first supply Namibia and Africa before moving anywhere in the world. He believed that relationship building with their clients is critical for their growth, as they do not only want to sell but also to engage and develop relationships with their clients.

Mr. Namalenga further echoed that the lessons that Namibia should take from the failed Ramatex investment in Namibia is that rather put your faith in your own people, because they will still be around if things go south. He emphasised that today they have learned to trust themselves and grow their domestic market in a way that benefits the people, and that foreign investors should only come to complement the already existing efforts by the Namibians.

Taking cognisant of the fact that globalisation opens up trade barriers and increase trade between nations, he responded that the loopholes for exploitation and self-advancement by multinationals can only be best dealt with if developing countries start teaming up and supporting each other to develop their local and regional networks. He however advised that people should still remember that trade openness is key to success of developing nations, as it brings with new technology, which can help them to do things better and efficiently to better their position in the global village.

Mr. Namalenga further encouraged that developing countries should emulate strategies that a country like Singapore have developed to propel themselves from the third world to first world position. He reminded that developing countries, especially African countries, are still at the beginning of the transformation journey and different pathways will emerge as countries navigate the transformation of production systems. Namibia and Africa have a huge opportunity to capitalise on these opportunities as long as they do it with the best interest of the people at heart. He concluded by imploring for a new and available strategies to help close loopholes that Ramatex left behind.

#### **6.2. Discussions with Mr. Herbert Jauch**

Mr. Herbert Jauch is a Labour Consultant in Namibia, author, and have been one of the vocal people on the Ramatex saga in Namibia. Jauch revealed that one of the huge challenges for local firms is the cut-throat completion posed by global competition. In the era of globalisation, the world economy—guided by the dogma of free market capitalism—has become a site of intense competitive struggles where only the strongest survive. Thus many local firms could either not take off or collapsed under the pressure of cheap imports. He further stated that proponents of globalisation argue that globalisation provides consumers with cheap goods and services and that the competitive local firms will benefit from export markets. On balance, Jauch argued that overall, Namibia has been one of the many losers in the globalisation system and this is shown in mass unemployment and very low wages for the vast majority of workers.

competitiveness, and affordable prices for consumers. However, the pressure is heavily placed on the world's poor as they have to struggle to survive on indecent and low paying jobs, left with destroyed environments, driven out of business by large transnational corpora-

Ethics and Globalisation: A Namibian Perspective - Ramatex Case

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84746

101

Since the 1990s, there has been improvement in world GDP and world trade as a result of globalisation led policies [2]. Although globalisation has helped increase growth and wealth over the years, not all continents and countries experienced the same growth. Social ailments continue to impede development as third world countries are left to pick up the pieces [3]. The situation is also worsened by developing countries' unsustainable external debt, which leave them with little options but to enter into unfavourable bilateral agreements with bigger

From the discussions, which were based on the economic aspect of globalisation, the pressing issues of globalisation are the lack of business ethics by transnational corporations conducting business in third world countries, regulatory and law enforcement issues, and the unequal gains between wealthy and poor countries from trade openness. The third world countries are advised to learn from one another and always put the interest of their people first; to empower local firms to survive competition from big multinational corporations; device strict laws with appropriate enforcement capacity to guard against environmental damage, exploitation, and to enable skills transfer; and to gear themselves up to reap the full benefits of globalisation

The findings of this paper reveal that the impact of globalisation on the economic aspect is twofold, bringing about two schools of thought. One is that of the perceptions that multinationals seek for new favourable markets to grow at the expense of the market in which they operate, while the other is that of pure global interdependence and development. While trade liberation is supposed to benefit all economies globally, the imbalances still that are negatively skewed to the developing countries still exist. Nations are urged to develop their own markets and support growth at home policies in order to avoid dependency on large players, while supporting balanced trade openness. For many developing countries, globalisation brings with negative spillovers to the poor as some multinationals exploit the cheap and abundant labour in developing countries, drives out small firms out of the market, damage the environment, and leave those countries to pick up the pieces. Namibia learned the hard way when Ramatex closed its doors leaving many people unemployed, dreams shuttered, and hopeless. Many people flocked to urban areas in hopes of better living conditions, placing a huge burden on the government to provide basic services to the escalating urban population. The experts interviewed highlighted the need to improve domestic laws and regulation to guard against exploitation of resources and environment, manipulation, corruption, and unethical business practices. Law enforcement also came out strongly as nations struggle to ensure compliance due to lack of capacity and resources. Conversely, globalisation is also highly praised as it allows free flow of goods and services, flow of

tions, corrupted, exposed to outbreaks, and susceptible to international political risk.

players most of whom are in it to solely advance their economic agendas.

and propel themselves to first world position.

**7. Conclusion and recommendations**

Jauch lamented that the Ramatex case has clearly shown that it is naïve to believe that any investment is a good investment. He blamed Namibian policy makers for failing to understand how companies like Ramatex operate, how they are driven by short-term profit maximisation and how they have absolutely no regard for the developmental aspirations of the country they are operating in. Jauch cautioned it is thus important to be extremely selective when it comes to foreign investments and to not blindly accept the conditions set by such investors, to avoid similar problematic investments in future.

He reiterated that weaker economies like Namibia (and African economies in general) were always hoping that in the end they would benefit from globalisation. However, the pattern is very clear: the strong and powerful economic blocs and countries (like China and the EU) have been the main beneficiaries and they are dictating the rules of globalisation to a large extent. He said African scholars like Samir Amin have long argued that Africa needs to selectively delink from globalisation and develop new links that are equal and mutually beneficial with countries that do not have an imperial agenda. In his seminar paper title *The Global Crisis and African Alternatives—Inspirations from Venezuela*, Jauch gave highlights of Venezuela's redistribution and participatory democracy as an alternative to the global crisis. Venezuela embarked on a series of radical reforms regarding social services provision, which involved channelling oil revenues to provide access to housing, education, and health care, which resulted in broadened access to university education for students from poor families, accessible healthcare, redressed regional imbalances, increased minimum wages, lower poverty levels, growth in GDP, reduced unemployment, lower Gini Index, and overall improved standard of living [6]. Jauch advised the third world countries to learn from the "semi-liberated" countries in Latin America—Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, as it seems obvious that the social progress made by Venezuela through the *"Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of our America"*<sup>1</sup> hold significant promises.

#### **6.3. Summary of discussions**

The potential of globalisation to transform this world to be a better place for everyone is unquestionable. Free trade is supposed to promote global economic growth, job creation,

<sup>1</sup> Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America—is a regional bloc, organised in 2004, that aims for social, political, and economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.

competitiveness, and affordable prices for consumers. However, the pressure is heavily placed on the world's poor as they have to struggle to survive on indecent and low paying jobs, left with destroyed environments, driven out of business by large transnational corporations, corrupted, exposed to outbreaks, and susceptible to international political risk.

Since the 1990s, there has been improvement in world GDP and world trade as a result of globalisation led policies [2]. Although globalisation has helped increase growth and wealth over the years, not all continents and countries experienced the same growth. Social ailments continue to impede development as third world countries are left to pick up the pieces [3]. The situation is also worsened by developing countries' unsustainable external debt, which leave them with little options but to enter into unfavourable bilateral agreements with bigger players most of whom are in it to solely advance their economic agendas.

From the discussions, which were based on the economic aspect of globalisation, the pressing issues of globalisation are the lack of business ethics by transnational corporations conducting business in third world countries, regulatory and law enforcement issues, and the unequal gains between wealthy and poor countries from trade openness. The third world countries are advised to learn from one another and always put the interest of their people first; to empower local firms to survive competition from big multinational corporations; device strict laws with appropriate enforcement capacity to guard against environmental damage, exploitation, and to enable skills transfer; and to gear themselves up to reap the full benefits of globalisation and propel themselves to first world position.
