President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says her decision to transfer the oversight of Namibia’s burgeoning oil and gas sector to the Presidency is to ensure closer supervision of an industry still in its infancy.
“Knowing how the oil industry, the history of it, and all the dynamics involved, and it’s just a new industry, I found it appropriate that it needs close monitoring, hence my decision to place it in the Office of the President,” she said.
The President acknowledged that the move may attract criticism but maintained it was a necessary step to safeguard national interests and maximise returns from the sector.
“In everything you do, there will always be critics,” Nandi-Ndaitwah noted, adding that close monitoring would allow for more effective job creation and better management of oil and gas revenues.
Estimates suggest that the industry could create over 12,000 jobs over the next 30 years, with 5,000 of those expected during the construction phase alone. The President reiterated her commitment to transparency and legality in managing the sector’s proceeds.
“Having taken an oath to defend and protect the Namibian Constitution and the Namibian laws, there is no way I can manage this industry outside the Namibian laws,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah also spoke about the broader need to extract more value from Namibia’s natural resources. While the mining sector generated N$51.572 billion in turnover in 2023 and paid N$3.967 billion in corporate taxes — contributing 14.4% to GDP — the President stressed that more could be done.
“The Namibian economy is mineral-based. And for a long time, we did not really invest fully in value addition,” she said. “That is why our Cabinet has taken a decision for us to pay special attention to value addition so that we do not allow the continuation of exploiting our natural resources — all or most of it — to leave the country unprocessed.”
She added that Namibia would work with neighbouring countries to advance value addition and local processing in sectors such as mining and agriculture.
“We’ll engage our neighbours to go into the processing industry, agro-processing, which will also create jobs and solve food insecurity problems,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah further highlighted the creative, fishing, and newly emerging oil and gas sectors as areas where Namibia should ensure it derives maximum benefit.
“We are talking about the creative industry where many young people are participating, in addition to the mining and fishing industry. Now we have discovered oil and gas and we should try and benefit from all of them,” she stated.
