Social Economic Forum: The Basic Income Grant (BIG) – Lessons from Namibia and South Africa

In recent past, the initiative of a Basic Income Grant (BIG) has gained significant traction as a potential tool to address poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. Both Namibia and South Africa have engaged in pilots, policy debates, and partial implementations of income support schemes aimed at offering regular, unconditional cash transfers to individuals or households in their respective countries.

Namibia’s Otjivero pilot project and South Africa’s Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, alongside the broader discussion of a universal or basic income grant, provide valuable insights into the potential, challenges, and socio-economic impacts of the Basic Income Grant, BIG. As global and regional inequalities persist, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing economic pressures, the October Social Economic Forum an initiative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Lusaka and its partners namely; - The Southern African Social Protection Network (SASPEN), the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), the Consortium for the Rights and Welfare of Older Persons (CROP) and the Zambia Congress Trade Unions (ZCTU), brought together stakeholders to examine how lessons from these countries can inform sustainable social protection financing mechanisms in Zambia in the light of the new social protection policy focus. The initiative is expected to strengthen the network of stakeholders committed to broader social economic development such as social protection and poverty reduction as well as make Policy recommendations to feed into Zambian national discussions on sustainable social protection financing.