Namibia is emerging as one of Africa’s most active frontiers for vanadium exploration, despite having no current commercial production.
Research conducted by the African Natural Resources Management Centre of the African Development Bank and the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development indicates that Namibia hosts 10 ongoing vanadium exploration projects, the highest number on the continent alongside South Africa.
This according to report ,highlights the country’s growing importance in the global search for critical minerals.
According to the report, Namibia’s vanadium endowment is linked to several geological settings, including shale-hosted deposits in the Karoo Basin, sandstone-hosted uranium–vanadium systems and historic vanadate occurrences in the Otavi Mountainland.
The report states that these diverse deposit types position Namibia favourably as demand for the mineral rises, driven by its established role in steel strengthening and its growing use in vanadium redox flow batteries. The authors note that global demand could climb sharply as battery deployment expands.
The most advanced Namibian project referenced in the report is at the Langer Heinrich uranium mine, where an estimated 15.6 thousand tonnes of vanadium resources have been identified. The authors add that the operator is conducting concept studies on potential recovery options, although no production decision has been announced.
While the report highlights strong investor interest reflected in active exploration work, it also stresses the need for further geological studies, greater transparency in reporting and the development of enabling infrastructure to support any future production.
The report further explains that Africa currently contributes only seven percent of global vanadium output, but the continent’s project pipeline is expanding beyond South Africa. Mozambique and Madagascar are noted as holding some of the largest undeveloped resources, with both countries potentially reshaping Africa’s future production profile if their projects advance.
Zambia, Botswana, Uganda and Tanzania are also identified as emerging exploration jurisdictions.
According to the authors, Namibia’s position will strengthen further if successful exploration is supported by clear policy alignment, investment in processing capabilities and integration into future battery-storage value chains.
