CHAMWE KAIRA
The Welwitschia Fund has at 31 July recorded an annualised return of 15.5% since inception four years ago and reached a market value of US$30.85 million, or N$508.47 million.
The fund received initial seed capital of US$17.74 million, equivalent to N$282.68 million, in early 2022.
Bank of Namibia Governor, Ebson Uanguta said the Welwitschia Fund is a mechanism for converting resource wealth into longer-term financial wealth.
Established in 2022, the fund is intended to strengthen Namibia’s resilience to cyclical and external shocks, promote intergenerational equity and distribute the benefits of natural resources across generations.
The fund has two broad objectives: an intergenerational savings function and a stabilisation function. The former is intended to accumulate wealth for future generations, while the latter is designed to support the national budget and reserves and provide protection against commodity price and revenue shocks.
Uanguta made the remarks in a presentation titled Building Wealth Beyond Natural Resources: Creating Namibia’s Next Growth Story, held last week.
He revealed that the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Namibia Bill is undergoing statutory approval and is expected to be tabled in Parliament later in 2026. The ministry of finance has placed custody of the fund with the Bank of Namibia.
The central bank also outlined strict rules governing withdrawals from the fund. Withdrawals from the intergenerational fund would be limited to investment returns, with capital protected, while annual withdrawals would not exceed 10% of accumulated returns.
Withdrawals from the stabilisation fund would also be capped at 10% of total assets in a given year and would be subject to specified fiscal conditions.
Uanguta called on Namibia to transform revenues generated from its natural resources into long-term financial assets that can support economic prosperity across generations.
He said the country’s natural resources remain an important anchor of the economy, providing foreign exchange reserves, fiscal revenue and foreign direct investment.
However, he warned that the country’s heavy dependence on resource sectors exposes the economy to commodity price volatility, changes in global demand and fluctuations in production conditions.
His presentation noted that primary industries account for 21% of the economy, while secondary industries account for 15% and tertiary industries 55%, with taxes less subsidies on products contributing 9.1%.
Mining remains a major component of the resource-based economy, with Namibia producing diamonds, uranium, gold, zinc and copper, alongside growing renewable energy potential.
The governor said Namibia is at a “historic crossroads”, with a potential dual-track growth strategy based on its emerging oil and gas industry and its renewable energy and green hydrogen potential.
The presentation highlighted recent oil discoveries in the Orange Basin, including Jonker and Graff by Shell, Venus by TotalEnergies, Mopane by Galp, Volans and Capricornus by Rhino Resources and Merlin-1X by Shell.
Namibia has drilled 50 exploration and appraisal wells to date, according to the presentation. The country’s first oil and gas discovery was the Kudu Gas Field in 1974.
The governor also highlighted Namibia’s significant renewable energy potential. Selected areas have direct normal irradiation of more than 2,400 kilowatt-hours per square metre per year and gross solar capacity factors above 30%. Selected areas also have wind capacity factors above 55%, with wind speeds exceeding 8 metres per second.
However, he cautioned that resource wealth alone does not guarantee prosperity. He added that Namibia’s resource dependence has historically exposed the economy to external shocks while capital-intensive sectors have had limited capacity to absorb labour.
Beyond saving resource revenues, the Bank of Namibia said Namibia needs to extract greater economic value from the resources sector through local content, skills development, value-chain development and stronger local participation.
The presentation identified skills development, stronger local supplier participation and financing, research and development, technology and knowledge transfer, and clear regulatory and institutional frameworks as key pillars for expanding the benefits of the resources sector.
The public sector, meanwhile, was urged to develop the legal and regulatory frameworks needed to implement Namibia’s National Upstream Petroleum Local Content Policy of 2025 and maximise local beneficiation from the emerging petroleum industry.
