Blog – Page 15 – Windhoek Observer

01 Dec

Misfortune and tragedy follow Sankwasa’s team… as minister mourns his driver and bodyguard

National News

Renthia Kaimbi A series of painful events has struck the office of urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa, ending in a fatal accident that claimed the lives of his designated driver and bodyguard. The chain of events began last month when Sankwasa’s official vehicle was broken into and his mobile phones were stolen. The incident raised concerns about security around Sankwasa. Soon after, grief hit his personal assistant, whose son died by suicide. The child was buried last weekend. The most severe tragedy occurred on Friday evening. After dropping Sankwasa at his residence, his driver, 50-year-old Lukas Nangolo, and…

01 Dec

Kelp Blue boss to step down

National News

Renthia Kaimbi Kelp Blue Namibia’s managing director, Fabian Shaanika, will leave the company at the end of this month. His departure comes as the company continues its legal battle to register its seaweed-based fertiliser for sale in Namibia, a process that has been delayed since 2021. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform (MAFWLR) refused to register the product, citing missing documents such as a certificate of analysis from an accredited lab and a safety data sheet. Kelp Blue has challenged this decision in court, arguing that the ministry’s refusal is “unlawful, irrational and a breach of the…

01 Dec

Namibia says colonialism must be classified as international crime

National News

Justicia Shipena Namibia has called for the crimes of colonialism in Africa to be formally recognised under international law. The government says justice and reparations are long overdue. The appeal was delivered by international relations and trade minister Selma Ashipala-Musavyi during the International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism in Africa on Sunday. The conference is taking place in Algiers, Algeria, under the theme Towards Redressing Historical Injustices Through the Criminalisation of Colonialism. Ashipala-Musavyi said the meeting carries symbolic significance because Algeria has long been a pillar of anti-colonial solidarity. She said Namibia’s own history of resistance to colonial rule…

01 Dec

STOP PRESS | World AIDS Day

Featured, Opinions

Every year on 1 December, Namibia joins the rest of the world in marking World AIDS Day, an annual reminder of the profound human cost of a virus that has shaped our national story for more than three decades. It is a day of memory, gratitude, and resolve, but also one that demands an honest confrontation with the realities we too often soften with comforting language. If anything, Namibia should treat this year’s observance not as a ceremonial pause but as a warning flare. For while our progress is real, our vulnerabilities remain stubborn, layered, and in some cases worsening…

01 Dec

TURNING POINT | Reimagining organised business in Namibia: A call for renewed collective voice from a Namibian entrepreneur

Featured, Opinions

As a Namibian entrepreneur, I have long believed, as many of my peers still do, that a strong and coherent system of business representation is indispensable to any modern economy. Where the state and the private sector collaborate constructively yet remain institutionally independent, national development accelerates, investment confidence grows, and policy becomes a platform for opportunity rather than uncertainty. However, Namibia finds itself at a pivotal juncture today. The mechanisms through which the business community organises, advocates, and engages the state have become fragmented, weakened, and in some respects obsolete. This is not a mere administrative inconvenience; it is, in…

01 Dec

Windhoek’s annual mayoral circus: A city held hostage by its own bureaucracy

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

Windhoekers are tired, tired of the pretence, tired of the empty rituals, tired of the political musical chairs that masquerade as leadership in the capital city of Namibia. Every year, like clockwork, city council stages its tired spectacle: elect a new mayor, parade them in front of cameras, hand them a chain with great ceremonial pomp, and then immediately strip them of any meaningful authority. Annual election, zero executive powers. A new face, the same impotence. The same bureaucracy, untouched and unbothered. It is governance by Groundhog Day, a classic definition of doing the same thing again and again while…

01 Dec

Response by ambassador Selma Ashipala-Musayi, Minister of International Relations and Trade, to the Observer editorial of 18 November 2025

Featured, Opinions

In response to the editorial by the Windhoek Observer on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, which detailed British home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s announcement regarding the potential suspension or restriction of visas for Namibian nationals, I would like to offer the following perspective. Namibia’s diplomacy is firmly rooted in constitutional principles that guide our engagement with the international community. Our foreign policy is predicated on the foundation of just and mutually beneficial relations, never at the expense of our citizens. As a responsible member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth, Namibia remains committed to upholding the fundamental rights and responsibilities enshrined…

01 Dec

Economy expected to gain momentum in 2026

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira Namibia’s economy is expected to slow in 2025 before picking up again in 2026, with weaker activity in manufacturing and the primary industries weighing on output, the central bank said. Real GDP growth is projected to ease to 3% in 2025 from 3.7% in 2024. Growth is then expected to accelerate to 3.9% in 2026. The central bank attributed the slowdown primarily to a contraction in the manufacturing sector. Output in the sector is expected to fall by 4.6% in 2025 after recording growth of 2.8% in 2024. It said the decline is linked to sharp drops in…

01 Dec

Eurobond redemption drains Namibia’s reserves

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira Namibia’s international reserves fell sharply at the end of October 2025, mainly because of the government’s eurobond repayment, the Bank of Namibia (BoN) said in its latest money and banking statistics report. The reserves declined by 11.2% from September and by 20.2% from a year earlier to N$48.6 billion, giving an import cover of 3.2 months, or 3.5 months when excluding oil and gas exploration imports. The decline was caused by several outflows, including the eurobond redemption on 29 October, net rand outflows by commercial banks, government foreign payments and a stronger Namibian dollar against the US dollar. …

01 Dec

Nictus receives full mandate to repurchase shares

Observer Money

Staff Writer Nictus Holdings Limited says all ordinary and special resolutions presented at its annual general meeting on 27 November 2025 were approved by shareholders, according to a notice issued on the Namibia Stock Exchange (NSX). The company said every resolution received 100% support from the 47.5 million shares voted, representing 88.89% of its total issued shares. Shareholders confirmed the re-election of directors PJ de W Tromp and ME Ackermann and endorsed the company’s remuneration policy through a non-binding advisory vote. They also approved non-executive directors’ fees and reappointed BDO as external auditors. Resolutions authorising the issue of ordinary shares,…