Opinions

COLLINS OMALU  Divorce may settle who keeps the house, but it does not automatically remove either spouse from the home loan. For instance, after signing the divorce papers, the relief feels immediate.  The hard part, many people assume, is behind them. Then the SMS from a bank arrives: the bond payment is overdue. One former spouse may have moved out, and the settlement may say the other will “take over” the home loan. But until the bank agrees and the paperwork is properly updated, both names remain jointly and severally liable for the debt. That is where many people are…

With sustained political leadership and practical partnerships, Windhoek can become a global hub for water diplomacy and investment Inge I. Zaamwani and Alex Simalabwi For Namibia, a drop of water is an ocean. That is why countries that live with water scarcity can offer some of the clearest leadership on water security. In an arid country, water determines where communities can thrive, how food is produced, whether industries can grow and how the economy withstands climate shocks.  Namibia has responded by treating water as a national development priority and, increasingly, as an instrument of regional cooperation and global diplomacy. That…

Shafa Kaulinge Reflections from the National Upstream Petroleum Local Content Policy Validation Workshop, 31 August 2026 Namibia stands closer than it ever has to becoming an oil-producing nation. TotalEnergies is working toward a final investment decision on the Venus field in the Orange Basin, expected by late 2026 after already slipping once, with first oil realistically several years beyond that. Nothing is certain until the ink dries and the first barrel is loaded, but the direction of travel is unmistakable. The question this country must answer is not whether the oil is coming. It is whether Namibians will merely watch…

Jeronimo Kateya 1. Introduction: The Call and The Context   In her 11 September 2026 reflection with the New Era, Kahungu stated that “Namibia must increase its population before it develops” because “for business to prosper you need a big number of customers” (Jason, 2026). She is correct that Namibia’s three million people across 824,292 km² presents a developmental challenge (NSA, 2023). Conversely, it is of paramount importance that, with supreme logic, sequence matters. In the 1920s-80s, Namibian parents relied on communal land, Mahangu fields, cattle, and goats. Today, climate change and urban migration have pushed millions of youth to cities…

Diana Ndeshihala Hainana In Namibia, discussions about foreign investment increasingly begin with the nationality of the investor rather than with the quality of the investment. There is understandable concern among some Namibians about increasing foreign involvement in important sectors of our economy. Chinese investment is sometimes viewed through concerns about labour practices, resource extraction and economic dominance. Similar anxieties arise when American or other international interests become increasingly prominent in strategic industries. These concerns about foreign investment should not become hostility towards foreign investment itself. Namibia’s history gives us every reason to care deeply about sovereignty, ownership and who ultimately…

Esther Shakela During the 20th century, there lived in Colombia a man called Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria who, upon discovering the profitability of cocaine, entered the trafficking fray and soon established himself as one of the most notorious drug lords in modern history. The legacy of Pablo Escobar remains contested to date, with some viewing him as a ruthless criminal whose operations negatively impacted thousands of lives, while others, particularly in his country, regard him as a legend of Robin Hood proportions. The latter group's sentiment towards Escobar can be understood through the acts of service he carried out for…

Malcolm Kambanzera I recently resigned from a board three months into my appointment because the shareholders wanted to make governance decisions and operational decisions at the same time. We were basically just puppets. Nonetheless, the main issue is: when everyone is responsible, no one is accountable. The governance cost of blurred mandates. One of the most interesting things about governance is that organisations can have all the right structures on paper and still get governance completely wrong in practice. There is a board. There is management. There are committees, delegations, and reporting lines. In a private company, there are shareholders.…

There are photographs that capture a moment, and then there are photographs that capture a possibility. The image of electric buses from Kenya and Ethiopia meeting at the Moyale border is, to me, one of the latter. At first glance, it is simply two modern buses at a border post. But look again. There is something much bigger happening in that photograph. It is a picture of African enterprise, African ambition and African technology beginning to move across the borders we have inherited. A Kenyan electric bus has travelled north from Nairobi. An Ethiopian electric bus has emerged from a…

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro It is a hard and undeniable fact and truth that Namibia, since independence, when she is supposed to have gotten rid of colonialism, is still very much under colonial rule 36 years after political and/or flag independence. Call it what you may wish to call it, whether neo-colonialism, globalism, bilateralism, and/or multilateralism, the line between all of them has never been thinner than Namibia and her leaders, let alone the masses, including the working class, would wish to admit. Take and make your pick between and among all of them, but in one way or another, all are…

Shatyohamba Haihambo As a bar owner, employer and taxpayer, I understand both sides of the debate around the proposed amendments to Namibia’s Tobacco Products Control Act. For years, businesses like mine have legally sold products such as vapes, refills and hookah as part of a broader hospitality offering. These products generate income, attract customers and, importantly, create jobs for bartenders, waiters, cashiers, cleaners and suppliers. At a time when unemployment remains one of Namibia’s biggest challenges, any policy that affects small businesses deserves careful consideration. At the same time, I am deeply concerned by reports of vaping and nicotine products…