Featured – Windhoek Observer

28 Apr

A national housing emergency demands a national response

Editorial, Featured

Namibia is facing a housing crisis of staggering proportions, one that can no longer be treated as a slow-burning concern or relegated to policy backrooms. Nearly one million people, representing roughly 42% of the population of Namibia, live in informal settlements. That figure alone should jolt policymakers, business leaders, and citizens alike into urgent action. It is not merely a statistic; it is a reflection of daily hardship, inequality, and a growing disconnect between policy ambition and lived reality. For years, housing has featured prominently in political rhetoric and development plans. Yet delivery has consistently fallen short. The reasons are…

28 Apr

Otavi electorate, remember, whatever you tolerate, you will never change since your tolerance levels are high

Featured, Opinions

Jefta McGregor Gaoab I am making inferences from the directive dated 02 December 2025, issued by the Office of the Secretary General of the Swapo Party to the Regional Coordinator of the Swapo Party. The directive pertains to the deployment of the elected regional and local authority councillors. I acknowledge that the mighty Swapo party has its own constitution that comprises rules and procedures which every member should subscribe to and abide by. However, on the other hand, I am equally disappointed when the same constitution, its rules and procedures are changed at will to appease a certain narrative or…

27 Apr

TURNING POINT | Land is not enough: Why Namibia must rethink food self-sufficiency

Featured, Opinions

As a Namibian entrepreneur, I have heard the same question repeated in boardrooms, farms, and informal markets: how can a country with so much land and so few people still struggle to feed itself? It is a fair question, but also a dangerously simplistic one. Land alone does not produce food. Water, technology, logistics, policy, and human capital do. And it is precisely in these areas where Namibia must confront uncomfortable truths. A recent global analysis, published in Nature Food, revealed that only Guyana can produce all seven essential food groups domestically, starchy staples, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish, and…

24 Apr

YOUNG OBSERVER | Stigma shadows youth uptake of HIV prevention pill

Featured, Uncategorised

Patience Makwele PrEP is a daily pill taken by HIV-negative people to prevent infection. When used consistently, it can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by up to 99%. HIV remains a concern among young people, especially young women. Data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS shows that women aged 15 to 24 in sub-Saharan Africa are more than twice as likely to contract HIV as men of the same age. Some young people say stigma makes it difficult to access the medication. Fatima Amukweya (29) said she started using PrEP after losing family members and a friend…

24 Apr

YOUNG OBSERVER | Breaking the silence on mental health

Featured, Uncategorised

Patience Makwele More young Namibians are speaking openly about mental health in homes, on campuses and online, challenging long-standing silence and stigma. At the centre of this shift is Windhoek-based mental health practitioner DieMut Amushila, founder of NeuroBloom Psychology, whose work is drawing interest from young people seeking safe spaces to talk. “Healing is possible not just for individuals but for the society at large,” she said. Amushila has more than a decade of experience in neuropsychology and neuroscience. She said her work goes beyond clinical care and focuses on changing how mental health is understood, especially among young people.…

24 Apr

Baroque concert to showcase young talent

Featured, Uncategorised

Patience Makwele A Baroque concert set for this weekend in Windhoek will place young Namibian musicians at the centre of a live orchestral performance. The concert is presented by the Namibian National Symphony Orchestra and will feature 52 participants, including seven young Namibian soloists selected through auditions. The event’s chairlady and organiser, Irmgard Rannersmann, said the selection was based on performance, not competition. “They did auditions where they had to play and show if what they’re playing is good enough. Their prize was that they were good enough to be one of the soloists at the concert," she said. She…

23 Apr

All hands on deck: Nandi-Ndaitwah, Witbooi, Ngurare and Zamwaani chart a new course for Namibia’s fishing industry

Editorial, Featured

In a political climate often defined by distance between policymakers and the sectors they regulate, the Namibian government’s decision to dispatch its most senior leadership to the coast for direct consultations with the fishing industry stands out as both rare and commendable. It's unprecedented. The presence of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Lucia Witbooi, Elijah Ngurare and Inge Zamwaani in one room with industry stakeholders is not merely symbolic; it is a deliberate acknowledgement that the fishing sector, anchored along the cold and productive waters of the Atlantic Ocean, is far too important to be managed through fragmented dialogue or bureaucratic detachment. This…

23 Apr

OBSERVER COASTAL | Businesses taught how to handle trade disputes

Featured, National News

Renthia Kaimbi A three-day workshop on the dispute settlement mechanism under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) ended in Swakopmund, with organisers saying it will help Namibian businesses handle trade disputes and take part in continental trade. The workshop was hosted by the Ministry of International Relations and Trade with the AfCFTA Secretariat. It brought together entrepreneurs, policymakers and private sector representatives. Discussions focused on how the dispute settlement system works in practice. The mechanism provides a process to resolve trade disputes between member countries through rules and procedures. It is meant to ensure fairness and predictability in cross-border…

22 Apr

Homes under the hammer: When the law protects property but fails people

Editorial, Featured

A troubling pattern is emerging across Windhoek: families are losing their homes through property auctions under circumstances that raise serious questions about fairness, transparency and basic human decency. What should be a carefully regulated, last-resort legal process has, in too many instances, become a mechanical exercise that disregards the lived realities of those affected. No one disputes that debt obligations must be honoured. Financial systems rely on enforcement. Courts exist to uphold contracts. But there is a fundamental difference between enforcing the law and exploiting its rigidity. Increasingly, residents are not challenging the existence of debt; they are challenging the…

20 Apr

THE TURNING POINT | From “Ostora” to Ownership: A Call to Rethink Scale in Namibian Entrepreneurship

Featured, Opinions

The recent decision by Sintana Energy to pursue a listing on the Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX) should not be viewed as a routine corporate development. It is, in many respects, a moment of quiet significance, one that invites reflection on the structure, ambition, and trajectory of Namibian enterprise itself. As a Namibian entrepreneur, I applaud this move. Not merely because it signals confidence in our market, but because it underscores an uncomfortable truth: the pipeline of locally grown, especially black Namibian-owned, companies reaching the level of public listing remains deeply inadequate. The statistics are not just disappointing; they are structurally revealing. They point to…