President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has called for a sustainable sporting system that creates employment and professional opportunities for young Namibians, saying the country must move beyond sending athletes to international competitions.
Speaking at the official handover of the national flag to Team Namibia at State House in Windhoek on Thursday, Nandi-Ndaitwah said sport should be recognised as a contributor to national development through employment, education, health and community building.
“Our ambition is not simply to send teams to international competitions. We must build a sustainable sporting system that identifies talent, develops athletes, strengthens our coaches and federations, improves sporting infrastructure, creates employment and professional opportunities,” she said.
The President said the country needed to establish pathways from grassroots participation to high-performance sport, while improving infrastructure and strengthening the institutions responsible for developing athletes.
She said the Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6) specifically calls for greater participation in sport, improved multi-sport infrastructure, and the professionalisation and commercialisation of the sporting sector.
“Sport is not an extra activity on the margins of development,” she said. “Sport is development.”
Nandi-Ndaitwah said achieving these ambitions would require cooperation between government, sporting organisations, schools, families and the private sector.
She urged businesses to invest in athletes, coaches, sporting facilities and development programmes, saying sport should be treated as a national partnership rather than a responsibility for government alone.
“To the private sector, I extend an invitation. Partner with Namibian sport. Invest in our young people. Support our athletes’ efforts, our coaches, our facilities and our programmes,” she said.
Deputy minister of education, innovation, youth, sport, arts and culture Dino Ballotti echoed the call for greater investment, describing sport as an economic sector with employment and enterprise opportunities.
“Sport is also an economy, with real jobs and enterprise attached to it,” Ballotti said.
He said businesses investing alongside government could help expand Namibia’s sports economy, urging stakeholders to work together to develop the sector.
“For our ministry, we take that responsibility most seriously. Sport must no longer be seen as an extracurricular activity or as pure entertainment. It is a strategic investment,” he said.
Ballotti said the ministry needed the support of the Namibia Sports Commission, the Namibia National Olympic Committee, national sports federations, schools and communities to advance sporting development.
He also highlighted the role of parents, coaches, teachers and federations in helping young athletes develop their abilities and reach international competitions.
The President’s remarks came as Namibia prepared to send 12 athletes to the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, scheduled to take place from 31 October to 13 November.
The athletes will compete in seven sporting disciplines including athletics, beach volleyball, beach wrestling, boxing, cycling, swimming and triathlon.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the games offered the athletes an opportunity to represent Namibia while learning from competitors from around the world. She urged the young athletes to recognise that their contribution to the country extended beyond winning medals.
“Your value to Namibia will not be determined only by the medals you bring home,” she said, adding that discipline, resilience, respect and the ability to face disappointment with dignity were equally important.
She said the athletes’ participation should also demonstrate the potential of a national sporting system capable of identifying and developing talent among more Namibian children.
“The athletes we celebrate today should not be an isolated success. They must become evidence of a functioning national pathway through which many more Namibian children can dream of representing their country,” she said.
