Today’s launch of the public consultation on Namibia’s Sectoral Transformation Investment Plan (s-TIP) may not generate the excitement of a new mine, a presidential announcement or a major investment deal. Yet it could prove to be one of the most consequential economic conversations Namibia has had in years.
As entrepreneurs, we often complain that government develops policies behind closed doors, only inviting the private sector once decisions have already been made. This consultation offers something different. It presents an opportunity for businesses, investors, researchers, communities and ordinary Namibians to shape how our country positions itself in what is rapidly becoming the global green economy.
We should embrace it.
Over the past four years, Namibia has emerged as one of Africa’s most talked-about destinations for green hydrogen and renewable energy investment. International delegations have arrived almost weekly. Memoranda of understanding have been signed. Feasibility studies have multiplied. Billions of dollars in potential investments have been announced.
The excitement is understandable.
Namibia possesses some of the world’s highest solar irradiation levels, excellent wind resources along the coast, vast tracts of land and a stable political environment. These natural advantages have placed the country in a unique position to become a producer of green hydrogen and other low-carbon products.
But possessing natural resources has never been enough.
Africa’s history is littered with examples of countries blessed with diamonds, oil, copper and uranium that exported raw materials while importing prosperity. The continent has too often watched foreign companies extract value while local economies remained dependent on government spending and commodity cycles.
Namibia understands this lesson perhaps better than most.
For decades we have exported raw minerals while importing manufactured goods. We have celebrated investment announcements without always seeing widespread industrialisation. We have created jobs, yes, but not nearly enough to absorb thousands of young people entering the labour market every year.
That is why the discussion around sectoral transformation matters.
The conversation is no longer simply about producing green hydrogen. It is about building industries around it.
Can Namibia manufacture components?
Can local engineering firms participate?
Can SMEs become suppliers?
Can transport companies, software developers, construction businesses, catering firms and financial institutions find meaningful opportunities within this emerging ecosystem?
Those are the questions entrepreneurs should be asking.
Too often, discussions around green industrialisation become highly technical, dominated by consultants and policy specialists. While their expertise is important, successful industrial transformation ultimately happens through businesses willing to invest, innovate and take risks.
Government creates the environment.
Entrepreneurs create the economy.
The proposed Sectoral Transformation Investment Plan seeks to unlock concessional international finance while supporting industrial decarbonisation, shared infrastructure and local participation. Those are worthwhile objectives. Access to affordable finance remains one of the biggest constraints facing developing economies, and if Namibia can leverage international climate funding to strengthen domestic industries, that should be welcomed.
However, optimism should never replace realism.
The green economy cannot become another exclusive club benefiting only multinational corporations with billion-dollar balance sheets.
Namibian businesses cannot be spectators while foreign companies dominate procurement, skills development and supply chains.
Meaningful local content cannot simply be written into policy documents. It must be measurable, enforceable and transparent.
Equally important is the need to ensure that small businesses outside Windhoek also benefit. Entrepreneurs in Keetmanshoop, Lüderitz, Walvis Bay, Oshakati, Rundu and Katima Mulilo must see opportunities, not merely headlines.
Industrial transformation must become a national project rather than a regional one.
Skills development deserves equal attention.
Green industries require engineers, electricians, welders, environmental scientists, technicians, software developers, project managers and logistics specialists. Namibia cannot rely indefinitely on imported expertise.
This requires universities, vocational training institutions and the private sector to work together in preparing the next generation of workers.
The consultation should also examine how emerging industries can stimulate innovation among young entrepreneurs.
Some of Namibia’s most successful businesses over the next twenty years may not own hydrogen plants or renewable energy facilities. Instead, they may develop software platforms, artificial intelligence solutions, environmental monitoring technologies, specialised legal services or financial products supporting these industries.
Every industrial revolution creates opportunities far beyond its core sector.
We must recognise those opportunities early.
Transparency will also determine whether public confidence grows.
Namibians deserve clarity on project selection, procurement processes, environmental safeguards and community participation. Large-scale investments often generate public scepticism when communication is poor.
Open consultation helps build trust.
Perhaps the greatest value of this initiative is symbolic.
For many years, Namibia’s economic conversations have revolved around redistribution. Redistribution remains necessary in a society marked by deep inequality.
But long-term prosperity cannot depend solely on redistributing existing wealth.
We must create new wealth.
Industrialisation, innovation, exports and entrepreneurship remain the most sustainable paths towards reducing unemployment and expanding the tax base that funds education, healthcare and infrastructure.
This consultation reflects that broader shift.
It signals that Namibia is beginning to think beyond simply extracting resources towards creating value.
That transition will not happen overnight.
It will require patient capital, policy consistency, infrastructure investment, regulatory certainty and continued collaboration between government and business.
There will undoubtedly be setbacks. Some projects will fail. Global markets will fluctuate. Technologies will evolve.
Yet standing still carries even greater risks.
The global economy is changing rapidly as countries compete to reduce carbon emissions while securing new industrial opportunities. Those who prepare today will shape tomorrow’s markets. Those who hesitate risk becoming consumers rather than producers of future technologies.
Namibia has an opportunity to position itself differently.
The public consultation beginning tomorrow should therefore not be viewed as another bureaucratic exercise.
It should be viewed as an invitation.
An invitation for entrepreneurs to contribute practical ideas.
An invitation for communities to voice legitimate concerns.
An invitation for investors to build partnerships.
Most importantly, it is an invitation for Namibians to help design an economy that creates value at home rather than exporting opportunity abroad.
If we get this right, future generations may look back on this consultation not as the beginning of another policy document, but as one of the moments when Namibia deliberately chose to build industries instead of merely exporting resources.
