By Kegan Strydom
As delegates gather for Mining Indaba 2026, Namibia stands at an inflection point. The recent oil discoveries off our coast have captured global imagination, but our mining story is far more nuanced.
Marked by uranium’s resurgence, gold’s steady ascent, and diamonds’ uncertain future. The question isn’t whether we have resources, but whether we can build the financial architecture to navigate this complexity.
At RMB Namibia, we’ve been financing the mining sector through cycles of boom and uncertainty.
We understand that mining excellence isn’t just about what lies beneath the ground it’s about the capital structures, risk frameworks, and strategic partnerships that turn geological potential into economic reality.
Navigating Sectoral Divergence
Namibia’s mining landscape today reflects broader global shifts. Our diamond sector, long the cornerstone of our mining economy, faces headwinds that demand candid assessment.
Synthetic diamonds, changing consumer preferences, and market oversupply have compressed prices and margins.
Debmarine Namibia and Namdeb’s operations that once guaranteed stable returns now require careful portfolio management and operational optimization.
This uncertainty makes robust financial planning essential. Companies must stress-test assumptions, maintain liquidity buffers, and potentially pivot business models.
For financiers, it means more sophisticated risk assessment and flexible covenant structures that acknowledge market realities while protecting stakeholder interests.
Conversely, uranium presents extraordinary opportunity. Global recognition that nuclear power is essential for energy transition has transformed market dynamics.
Namibia’s position as Africa’s largest uranium producer gains strategic significance as countries worldwide recommit to nuclear energy. This is exemplified by developments at Swakop Uranium and Rossing Uranium.
New projects are advancing, and existing operations are expanding all requiring substantial capital deployment. We look forward with great excitement for the developments at Bannerman, Langer Heinrich and Deep Yellow.
Meanwhile, our gold sector demonstrates consistent growth momentum. Rising gold prices, coupled with successful exploration programs like WIA Gold and mine expansions like B2Gold and QKR Navachab, position this sector as an increasingly important contributor to our mining economy. Projects that seemed marginal years ago now attract serious investment interest.
The Financing Challenge
This sectoral divergence creates unique financing challenges. Traditional mining finance models assumed relative homogeneity within commodity classes.
Today, we’re structuring facilities that account for diamond price volatility while capitalizing on uranium’s multi-decade demand visibility. We’re supporting gold operators balancing expansion ambitions against operational discipline.
Blended finance structures, ESG-linked facilities, and innovative partnerships between development finance institutions and commercial banks become crucial tools.
Our role extends beyond providing capital, we architect solutions aligning investor requirements with project realities, understanding that every deposit and every commodity cycle has unique characteristics requiring bespoke financial engineering.
Sustainability as Competitive Advantage
The global transition to renewable energy has elevated Namibia’s strategic importance. Our uranium fuels the baseload power essential for reliable grids.
Our emerging critical minerals lithium, rare earths, copper support renewable infrastructure. But this opportunity comes with heightened scrutiny around ESG credentials, transparent governance, and measurable community impact.
Companies demonstrating genuine sustainability commitment access cheaper capital and build social license protecting long-term operations.
RMB Namibia has integrated ESG considerations into credit assessment not as obstacles but as indicators of operational excellence and long-term viability.
Infrastructure as Enabler
Namibia’s mining potential remains constrained by infrastructure gaps port capacity, rail networks, water security, and energy reliability.
These aren’t insurmountable barriers; they’re opportunities for creative public-private collaboration that shares risks and rewards appropriately. Every ton of additional port capacity or megawatt of reliable power multiplies the value of our mineral endowments.
Looking Forward
The next decade will define whether Namibia translates resources into broad-based development. Success requires stronger policies building genuine capability, transparent revenue management ensuring mining proceeds benefit all Namibians, and skills development creating careers.
As financial intermediaries, we bear responsibility for directing capital toward projects exemplifying these principles. Mining Indaba 2026 offers opportunity for honest conversation about challenges ahead.
Namibia’s mining renaissance won’t happen by accident it will be built deal by deal, project by project, partnership by partnership and RMB Namibia will be there with you to make this happen.
RMB Namibia remains committed to this vision: a diversified mining sector that creates wealth, protects environments, empowers communities, and positions Namibia as Africa’s mining destination of choice.
*Kegan Strydom is a Relationship Manager-Mining at RMB Namibia
