CHAMWE KAIRA
Revenue from oil exploration rental fees surged to N$37.93 million, almost four times the budgeted N$10 million, as licence holders renewed or extended contracts amid increased exploration activity, according to the Auditor-General’s audit of the ministry of industries, mines and energy.
Namibia is intensifying efforts to convert its Orange Basin discoveries into production with major operators accelerating their exploration programs across Namibia’s Orange Basin.
These include Chevron, Rhino Resources while TotalEnergies is progressing its Venus development toward a final investment decision.
The surge in oil exploration fees contrasted sharply with diamond royalty revenue, which fell N$629.99 million below the Ministry’s estimate for the financial year ended 31 March 2025.
The Ministry collected N$1.15 billion in diamond royalties against an estimated N$1.78 billion.
The audit report attributed the shortfall to reduced production by local diamond companies amid increased global competition from laboratory-grown diamonds.
The Auditor-General, Junias Etuna Kandjeke, issued a qualified audit opinion on the ministry’s financial statements.
The audit found that the ministry had N$31 million in outstanding commitments for accounts payable, while N$10.15 million was returned to the state treasury as under-expenditure.
The Auditor-General noted that the returned funds could have been used to settle a significant portion of the Ministry’s outstanding debt.
The amount represented 2.41% of the ministry’s overall vote. The audit also identified a discrepancy involving vehicle expenditure.
Although the ministry’s accounting officer reported that no new vehicles had been acquired during the financial year, the general ledger reflected N$93,920.38 in vehicle-related expenditure.
In another finding, N$515,239.41 owed to the government by six current and former employees remained unrecovered.
The debts related to salary advances, leave gratuities and other employee-related transactions.
Management indicated that some amounts had been recovered but did not provide supporting documentation or verifiable evidence to the auditors.
The Auditor-General also flagged 26 state-owned immovable assets whose values were recorded as undetermined because they had not been included in the main government asset register.
The properties include the ministry’s head office and staff houses in Swakopmund, Oranjemund, Lüderitz and Tsumeb.
