Namibia takes centre stage in New York on sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly
The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board recently conducted a series of investment promotion activities on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Namibia took centre stage.
The event which ended on 26 September was attended by Hon Tom Alweendo, Minister of Mines and Energy; Hon Calle Schlettwein, Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform; Hon Anna Nghipondoka, Minister of Education, Arts, and Culture; and Hon Dr Itah Kandjii-Murangi, Minister of Higher Education, Training, and Innovation.
“While the Namibian economy recorded positive growth over the past two years, with a 4.2% growth rate in 2022, foreign and domestic investments remain the most viable levers that Namibia can pull to bring about sustainable economic growth and quality employment creation. Following the collective efforts of public and private sector stakeholders, Namibia is slowly reaping the results of persistent and deliberate investment promotion activities. This is evidenced by data released by the Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Performance Index, which measures FDI attracted in proportion to a country’s economic size, which ranked Namibia number one in Africa and 13th globally in 2022,” stated Catherine Shipushu, the Senior Manager for Marketing, Branding, and Communications at the Investment Board.
Moreover, Nampower Managing Director Kahenge Haulofu and Investment Board Chief Executive Nangula Uaandja
participated in a panel discussion on “Investment and Growth Opportunities in Renewable Energy Resources.” This discussion shed light on, among others, the government’s strategy to enhance private sector participation in renewables through initiatives like the National Integrated Resource Plan, Shipushu noted.
Namibia’s flagship event, ‘Invest in Namibia,’ she said, was co-hosted in collaboration with Rand Merchant Bank in Namibia, the corporate and investment banking division of FirstRand Namibia Group. During this session, leaders from the public and private sectors met with potential investors and shared information on Namibia’s investment environment and available opportunities in the priority areas of oil and gas, green hydrogen, and mining.
“Hon Alweendo, the event’s keynote speaker, provided a detailed overview of Namibia’s mining and energy landscape while Mrs Uaandja provided detailed information on investment opportunities, highlighting Namibia’s unique opportunities and comparative advantages as an investment destination. She also emphasized that Namibia is one of five countries in the world with a capacity to create Green Hydrogen at competitive rates, highlighting Namibia’s ambitions of becoming Africa’s sustainable energy capital.”
Mining remains a strategic growth sector for Namibia, with significant contributions to the GDP, taxation and foreign earnings. “In 2022, the mining sector accounted for 11.1% of the GDP.
“Further investment in this sector is thus central to growing the economy,” Shipushu said, adding that it is for this reason that the Investment Board used the opportunity to invite investors and funders to form partnerships, joint ventures, or strategic alliances with Namibian Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL) owners to develop their projects and mining operations.
“The potential impact of large numbers of EPLs being developed is key to enabling the country to develop its mining project pipeline and preparing these projects for larger investments in the future. Systematically developing these rights will translate to creating more jobs in the sector and the wider economy. There are currently just over 700 EPL and Mining Claims owners in Namibia,” she stated.
“While the impact of these sessions and meetings will only be realised in the long-term, the Investment Board deems this to have been a successful mission as our short-term objectives, focused on obtaining access to the right audience, participating at the right platforms and furthering objectives of building strategic relationships, were attained.”
