Windhoek Observer

Justicia Shipena  About 200 products identified in a new diversification report represent an estimated US$811 million (roughly N$15.4 billion) in market opportunities under a global export scenario.  Import substitution could add another US$117 million, about N$2.2 billion, while developing a priority subset of products could generate around 26 000 jobs across the economy. These figures were presented at the launch of the report titled “Rapid Assessment for Value Addition and Diversification to Support Namibia", held in Windhoek on Thursday.  UNCTAD secretary general Rebeca Grynspan said the report identifies 353 products across 23 sectors where Namibia can diversify, with 60 directly…

Justicia Shipena  The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture says most of its capital projects for the 2025/26 financial year are progressing as planned.  Its deputy minister, Dino Ballotti, gave an update on projects by the ministry on Thursday.  Ballotti said the country’s school infrastructure is holding up, but more work still needs to be done. He said the ministry is continuing with its national decongestion plan to reduce overcrowding in schools. Ballotti added that there are currently 29 large capital projects underway across the country. Every region has at least one major project, while regions such…

Staff Writer Trustco Group Holdings Limited has started the process of unwinding its N$468 million transaction to acquire shares in Legal Shield Holdings Limited (LSH). In an update to shareholders, the company said it is reversing the deal after accepting what it described as a repudiation of the shareholder-approved framework by Riskowitz Value Fund LP (RVF). The LSH transaction was approved by Trustco shareholders through a circular dated 4 December 2024. The approval was granted on the basis that the deal would not result in any direct or indirect change in control of Trustco, including through governance arrangements, board composition…

Namibia stands at a quiet but breathtaking turning point in its national story. For years, conversations about offshore oil belonged to the language of possibility and distant projection. Today, with major discoveries confirmed in the Orange Basin, that language is giving way to something far more immediate. The country are no longer speaking about what might be. It is beginning to confront what is. History offers a simple lesson in moments like this. Natural resources alone do not build nations. Many countries have discovered wealth beneath their soil or sea and still struggled to translate it into shared prosperity. The…

In the quiet corridors of the National Archives, the history of Namibia is etched in black and white, photographs of liberation struggle heroes, the ink of the 1990 Constitution, and the echoes of a transition from apartheid to freedom. But for those born after the first hoisting of the Namibian flag, nation building is not a memory of what was fought for. It is an active, often exhausting, daily construction project. For the post-independence generation, nation building has shifted from the heroic act of liberation to the complex bureaucratic and economic act of transformation. We are the architects of the…

There was a time when development could be measured in roads, railways, and physical infrastructure. A nation advanced when it built bridges across rivers and schools across regions. Today, another kind of infrastructure is quietly determining the direction of societies. It cannot always be seen with the eye, yet it shapes opportunity as profoundly as any highway. This is the infrastructure of the digital age. Across Namibia, daily life is already being reorganized by technology. Payments move through mobile phones rather than bank queues. Classrooms stretch beyond walls into online platforms. Businesses advertise to customers they may never meet in…

Cervical cancer remains one of the most significant yet preventable threats to women’s health globally. For young people navigating the transition into adulthood, understanding the biological mechanisms, risk factors, and modern preventative measures associated with this disease is a vital component of long-term wellness. Unlike many other forms of cancer that are linked primarily to ageing or unpredictable genetic mutations, cervical cancer has a clearly identified primary cause: the human papillomavirus (HPV). By stripping away the stigma and focusing on the clinical facts, we can view cervical cancer not as an inevitable shadow but as a manageable health challenge that…