Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Government of the people, for the people and by the people. This is a slogan that in revolutionary parlance was and had often been deployed by liberation movements all over the globe. Including in Namibia by the Swapo Party of Namibia. One cannot wonder if today, after 36 years of political independence, Swapo still adheres to this slogan? Or was it just what it was. Not relevant and deployable to and in the post-liberation era? Today one rarely hears Swapo, let alone any of its remnants firebrand revolutionaries, if there are any left, ever using this slogan. Nonetheless…

Ndatyoonawa Tshilunga “Government does not create jobs; it creates an environment in which the private sector can create jobs” –  Former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi.  This statement captures a fundamental economic reality that many developing nations have had to confront, sustainable employment does not come from government spending alone, but from building an ecosystem where businesses can innovate, invest and grow. For years, our entrepreneurial ecosystem has been built around one dominant customer, the Government of the Republic of Namibia. Today, however, the recently signed cooperation agreements between Namibia and China present an opportunity in industrialisation, innovation and value creation…

Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) A vision worth supporting When President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah called for decisive action to transform Namibia into a producer of technology, innovation, and scientific knowledge, she articulated an ambition worthy of national support. In an era increasingly defined by artificial intelligence, digital economies, renewable energy, and technological competition, no country can expect lasting prosperity by remaining merely a consumer of innovations developed elsewhere. The aspiration is both timely and necessary. Nations that have achieved sustainable prosperity did so by investing in knowledge, industrial capability, scientific research, and productive human capital. Economic…

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro It seems unclear if the current Namibian administration is aware and conscious that it is quickly moving towards its midterm without having properly put its pulse on the many socio-economic ills the country is facing. Let alone giving the country the much-needed impetus, compass, and direction as to how the downward spiral on which the country is heading can in the least be halted, even if only for now. Before work can start in earnest in reversing the downward spiral and eventually putting the country on the correct path towards meaningful socio-economic progress. But what is, and could,…

Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Reading beyond the photograph Namibian students who reached Grade 10 were taught how to interpret and analyse photographs not simply to describe what they saw, but to identify what images communicate about institutions, priorities and society. We invite readers to apply that same exercise to the photographs from President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s recent state visit to China. However, a photograph can never tell the whole story. It cannot reveal who prepared the briefing papers, who negotiated the difficult clauses, who understood the technical details, or who ultimately shaped the outcome of…

Fransina Nelulu Namibia’s rapid ascent in the global energy market is no longer a secret. The historic offshore discoveries in the Orange Basin have placed the nation on the global energy map, drawing interest from international oil companies (IOCs), global Tier-1 contractors, and foreign investors. However, as the industry transitions from exploration to strategic planning, a fundamental truth has emerged for global entities eyeing this frontier: doing business in Namibia requires moving past old transactional models and embracing a strategy of true partnership, transparency, and shared national progress. For international companies entering this market, understanding the local operating landscape is…

Lazarus Kwedhi If you catch a taxi in Windhoek from Havana to the city centre, you pay N$15. If you catch a taxi from Havana to Eros, you pay double. The distance is the same. The time is the same. The only difference is a line on a city map: taxi rank, or not. That line is costing people their wages. People who live and work in residential areas and workplaces without a taxi rank, such as Goreangab informal settlement, Lafrenz, and the northern industrial areas, are required every morning to pay N$30 to get home. That is N$60 a…

Peter Karon The world's oil majors are watching Namibia's coastline, and with the Final Investment Decision (FID) expected within the next few months, the countdown has officially begun. But as international energy giants prepare to establish their local footprints, a critical question arises: is Namibia's digital backbone ready to support them? Modern oil and gas operations are entirely intertwined with technology, from seismic data analytics during exploration to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) managing production. When these global enterprises land on Namibian soil, they cannot afford to wait months to build their digital ecosystems from scratch. They need to connect instantly…

Lazarus Kwedhi Walk into many homes, particularly in the villages, during school holidays and you will hear the same sentence, often said with a laugh to hide the pain: "Junior iha popi Oshiwambo" (Junior cannot speak Oshiwambo). It sounds small and funny. It is not. It means a grandchild cannot sit with a grandparent, with Kuku, and understand the stories, the proverbs, the warnings, and the prayers said in his mother's native tongue. It means a mother or father who only speaks their mother tongue cannot help their children with homework or a research project. It means a family's knowledge,…

Dirk van Schalkwyk When people think about mining or Namibia's emerging oil and gas industry, they usually picture drilling rigs, heavy machinery, and billion-dollar investments. Rarely do they think about the kitchen. Yet every successful operation depends on people. And people perform at their best when they are properly fed. Napoleon Bonaparte famously said, "An army marches on its stomach." Centuries later, those words still ring true. Replace an army with a mining operation or an offshore crew, and the principle remains the same. Before production targets are met, before equipment starts moving, and before critical decisions are made, someone…