SWAKOPMUND – Erongo governor Natalia /Goagoses has called for urgent action and accountability in the management of Namibia’s natural resources, saying repeated workshops and discussions have failed to improve the lives of ordinary citizens.
/Goagoses was speaking at the opening of a capacity-building workshop hosted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources currently underway in Swakopmund. She questioned why communities remain poor despite Namibia’s vast mineral wealth.
“After 36 years of independence the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen,” she said, adding that many Namibians remain excluded from mining, tourism and energy sectors. According to /Goagoses, government engagements often fail to translate into real outcomes, with workshops producing reports but little tangible change on the ground.
“We come here year in and year out; we talk, we talk, we talk, and nothing happens. People are laughing at us,” she said. She then called for inclusive engagement, saying discussions should be taken to communities.
She says leaders should allow communities to see and participate in what is being planned for their resources.
She also warned that local content benefits are not reaching ordinary citizens, urging scrutiny of contractors. /Goagoses also raised concerns about weak coordination between central and regional government structures. She then called for a full review of key industries to assess ownership, employment and skills development.
“We must sit down and take stock. Who owns these resources? How many Namibians are employed? How many are skilled?” she asked. She further linked unemployment to rising social challenges among young people. At the same workshop, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources chairperson Tobie Aupindi echoed similar concerns, warning that Namibia risks failing its citizens if it continues exporting raw materials without value addition.
“I woke up with a sense of uneasiness when you look at unemployment statistics in Namibia. We are not acting. We are actionless. We are emotionless. We analyse situations until we paralyse them,” he said.
He added that despite Namibia’s vast mineral resources, he questions why citizens continue to struggle. He called for a shift away from an extractive economic model towards beneficiation and local processing.
“Namibia cannot continue to rely on extractive economic systems. We must move from exporting raw materials to producing finished and semi-finished products,” he said.
He stressed that policy frameworks already exist, but implementation is lacking.
“These policies already exist; what is lacking is action,” he said.
He warned that exporting unprocessed minerals costs jobs and weakens economic independence.