Erasmus Shalihaxwe
President Nangolo Mbumba held several meetings with Chinese investors in Beijing, China, at the ongoing ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Presidential press secretary, Alfredo Hengari said on Wednesday that the Chinese investors have expressed interest in different sectors of the Namibian economy, including mining, tourism, renewable energy, and infrastructure.
Mbumba along with other African leaders, are participating in the forum that started on Wednesday.
He is also expected to hold a courtesy meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Mbumba has urged Chinese business people to continue investing in Namibia, stating that there is no reason why they should not choose Namibia.
The largest Chinese investment in Africa is in Namibia, represented by China General Nuclear (CGN), also known as Swakop Uranium/ operating the Husab Mine, and China National Uranium Group of CNNC.
Mbumba made these remarks on Wednesday while addressing delegates at the Namibia-China high-level business seminar in Beijing, China.
He stated that the Swakop Uranium mine makes Namibia the 3rd largest producer of Uranium worldwide, which is beneficial for the economic growth of the two countries.
‘’There are others, such as Namibia’s largest cement manufacturing company, Ohorongo Cement, which was acquired by West China Cement Group in 2020, and in 2023 Huayou Cobalt Group of China invested in a lithium development project in Namibia. Equally important, very recently, China’s Sino-mine Resources Group invested in acquiring a major copper smelting and processing facility in Tsumeb, Namibia.
Similarly, Yintai Gold of China is in the process of finalising its investment transaction of the acquisition of the Twin Hill Gold mine project in Namibia. These are just some testimonials of Chinese companies investing in Namibia, which shows great confidence in the country’s economic growth. I, therefore, invite you all to come and do business in Namibia,’’ urged Mbumba.
The Namibian leader further told delegates that the Namibia – China High-Level Business Forum, hosted on the sidelines of the 9th FOCAC Summit, presented an excellent opportunity for Namibian and Chinese enterprises to engage and discover the business opportunities on offer in the two countries. With Chinese enterprises, working hand in hand in joint ventures with Namibian entrepreneurs can take advantage of the opportunities for mutual benefit.
‘’We require strategic partners from the People’s Republic of China with the requisite technology, skills know-how, and capital to work with us to transform the Namibian economy from primary production towards a fully industrialized, knowledge-based, technologically advanced, high value-added economy,’’ he appealed.
Namibia’s participation in the FOCAC has proven beneficial according to Hengari, as it has received support in the development of various infrastructure projects such as roads, schools, and capacity-building training, among others.
Namibia has also availed opportunities to Chinese companies to invest in sectors, such as mining, which is beneficial to China’s development.
The forum will also accord Namibia an opportunity to strengthen the already existing cordial relationship and improve trade relations between the two countries.
