Windhoek Observer – Page 2 – Windhoek Observer

20 Feb

YOUNG OBSERVER | #UNMUTED

Featured, Opinions

Nations are not built in moments of celebration. They are built in the long stretches of ordinary time that follow. Flags are raised, constitutions are signed, and history marks these events as turning points. Yet the true test of freedom begins after the applause fades, when a people must decide what to do with the future that has been placed in their hands. Namibia now lives firmly within that quieter chapter of its story. More than three decades have passed since independence transformed the political destiny of the country. A generation has grown up knowing freedom not as a dream…

20 Feb

BoN eyes gold and retail bonds to boost stability

Observer Money

Chamwe Kiara The Bank of Namibia (BoN) says it is close to finalising agreements under its gold accumulation strategy as it moves to diversify the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Nicholas Mukasa, director of financial markets, said the central bank remains committed to the gold acquisition programme as part of efforts to strengthen economic stability amid global uncertainty. “We are fairly advanced in concluding the agreements that will allow us to execute the accumulation of gold. We are close; we are very advanced with the gold acquisition programme,” Mukasa said. He said the bank has engaged local mines and approved refineries…

20 Feb

Celsius to delist from NSX

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira Celsius Resources Limited will terminate its secondary listing on the Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX) after receiving approval from the exchange’s listings division. The company, registered in Namibia as an external company under Registration No. F/ACN 009 162 949 and trading on the NSX under the share code CER (ISIN: AU000000CLA6), said the decision forms part of a strategic shift in its operations. In a notice to shareholders, the board said the company’s primary focus is now in the Philippines and that maintaining a secondary listing on the NSX is no longer financially feasible. “The board of directors of…

20 Feb

Namsnails cultivates snail industry in the Namib

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira SSnail farming is not common in the arid Erongo region, but Namsnails Farming (Pty) Ltd has established operations on the edge of the Namib Desert and aims to build a place in Namibia’s agricultural and export sector. Chief executive officer André Mouton said the company breeds Cornu aspersum maxima, known as Gros Gris, for the escargot market. “Our present installed capacity allows for approximately 100 to 150 tonnes of live hibernated snails per annum, with the ability to scale further as infrastructure is expanded,” Mouton said. He said production is currently focused on the local and regional market,…

20 Feb

Chamber of Mines rebuts ILO remarks on jobs, ownership

Observer Money

Staff Writer The Chamber of Mines of Namibia has rejected remarks made by International Labour Organization (ILO) country director Philile Masuku during a recent public dialogue on decent work in the mining sector. The chamber said mining is capital-intensive and highly mechanised, which means it employs fewer people directly than sectors such as agriculture and fishing. It said this does not reflect the full employment impact of the industry. According to the 2023 Population and Housing Census Labour Force Report, 14 337 people were employed in mining and quarrying in 2023, representing 2.6% of employed Namibians. The chamber said this…

20 Feb

NEFF oil bill support sparks trust debate

National News

Allexer Namundjembo The Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters’ (NEFF) support for the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Amendment Bill has sparked debate about trust and political alignment within the opposition. On Wednesday, NEFF member of parliament Kalimbo Iipumbu told the House that the party supports the bill. “The President represents the collective sovereignty will of the Namibian people; therefore, vesting final approval authority in the Presidency elevates petroleum governance from narrow bureaucratic control to a matter of national strategic national asset that will determine Namibia’s economic future for generations,” Iipumbu said. He said the bill marks a step toward reclaiming Namibia’s petroleum…

20 Feb

Tsumeb municipality accused of forging building plans

Main, National News

Allexer Namundjembo The engineering department at the Tsumeb Municipality has been accused of forging building plans and approving designs that allegedly do not meet municipal standards. Sources who spoke to the Windhoek Observer on condition of anonymity claim that some engineers alter or redesign building plans that initially failed to meet requirements and later approve them for use. The Windhoek Observer has seen a building plan originally drawn last year by Star Innovations. The version later submitted to the municipality carried different contact details from those of the company named on the document. When contacted, the founder of Star Innovations…

19 Feb

The door or the sword: Why Africa will no longer ask permission to exist

Opinions

Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) There is a Swahili saying that cuts to the heart of our modern predicament: "Wakala huona tu kile anacho uwezo wa utambuzi wa kuona." Translated, it means an agent only sees what they have the cognition to see. For decades, the world has looked at Africa and seen only what its limited cognition allowed: a continent of problems, not solutions; of resources, not resourcefulness; of people to be saved, not partners to be respected. That blindness ends now. When the spotlights dimmed on the 39th African Union Summit, something fundamental…

19 Feb

Khomas region at a tipping point

Editorial, Featured

Namibia cannot afford to treat the latest census figures as just another statistical update. A 44.6% population increase in the Khomas region since 2011, pushing the population to nearly 495 000, is not merely demographic growth. It is a structural shift with profound economic, fiscal and social consequences for the entire country. Khomas, anchored by Windhoek, is not just another region. It is Namibia’s administrative headquarters, financial nerve centre and primary commercial hub. What happens in Khomas does not stay in Khomas. It reverberates across the nation’s economy and political system. And right now, the warning lights are flashing. Urbanisation…

19 Feb

BoN says economic growth may fall short of expectations

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira The Bank of Namibia (BoN) says economic growth projections for 2025 and 2026 are under review and could be lower than earlier estimates due to slower domestic activity and global uncertainty. Speaking at the monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, Bank of Namibia governor Ebson Uanguta said real GDP growth is currently estimated at about 3% for 2025 and 3.8% for 2026. He said these figures may be revised downward. Domestic activity slowed in 2025. Agriculture, fishing, mining and manufacturing contracted during the first three quarters of the year. As a result, the growth outlook for 2025 is weaker…