Blog – Page 4 – Windhoek Observer

23 Feb

Reflections on opportunity and responsibility

Observer Money

Shetugwana Shipena Attending the 2026 Investing in African Mining Indaba reaffirmed the complex duality that continues to shape Africa’s mining landscape: significant growth potential coupled with persistent systemic challenges. The tragic landslide in Rubaya in the Democratic Republic of the Congo earlier this year, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives, cast a sobering tone over the week’s discussions. This incident highlighted, with unmistakable clarity, the urgent imperative for enhanced safety standards, more robust regulatory frameworks and a strengthened commitment to responsible and sustainable mining practices across the continent. Rain and wind on day zero disrupted logistics across…

20 Feb

Namibia eyes N$15.4bn in new products beyond raw exports

National News

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…

20 Feb

Majority of education projects On track, says Balloti

National News

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…

20 Feb

Trustco moves to unwind N$468m LSH transaction

National News

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…

20 Feb

A golden buffer or gilded gamble? Bank of Namibia’s strategic bet on local gold

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

The decision by the Bank of Namibia to begin purchasing gold from local producers marks one of the most consequential shifts in the country’s reserve management strategy since independence. By targeting gold to make up approximately 3% of Namibia’s net foreign exchange reserves, the central bank has signalled a deliberate and strategic recalibration of how it intends to shield the economy from global turbulence. At face value, the move appears prudent. Central banks worldwide have been reassessing their exposure to foreign currencies in an era marked by geopolitical tensions, persistent inflationary pressures and volatile capital flows. Gold, historically regarded as…

20 Feb

“No more plundering” call meaningless without ideological belief, conviction!

Opinions

We are no longer interested in exporting raw materials, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema recently told the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Hinting that Africa has “now awakened and is no longer interested in exporting raw materials but yearn for discussions that lead to adding value to its economies”. Adamant and boasting that the continent is now speaking one language and wants everyone including ordinary citizens to feel the benefit of its mineral endowment. “We don’t want to talk and keep attending conferences and yet the man in the street can’t feel the benefit of the mineral endowment that we…

20 Feb

Designing Namibia’s oil future: Power, accountability and the constitutional middle ground

Opinions

Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Namibia stands on the brink of a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Billions of dollars could flow from oil and gas resources, but who controls that wealth, and how it is managed, will determine whether this opportunity becomes a blessing or a curse for generations to come. This week, the National Assembly debated the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Amendment Bill, a law that proposes shifting authority over the oil and gas sector from the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy to the Presidency. Supporters argue that centralising power ensures faster decisions, coordinated leadership,…

20 Feb

YOUNG OBSERVER | Namibia’s oil moment and the question of generation

National News

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…

20 Feb

YOUNG OBSERVER | What does nation building mean for a post independence generation?

National News

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…

20 Feb

YOUNG OBSERVER | When the future goes online: Why digital readiness is now a national question

National News

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…