Foreign policy experts, academics and various thinkers converged in Windhoek this week to hammer out what President Hage Geingob refers to as ‘international relations policy’, to replace parts of the country’s seemingly worn-out foreign policy.
Geingob gave some strong hints of what the new policy would look like – if his keynote address earlier in the week is anything to go by. He hinted strongly at a radical departure from traditional diplomacy, practiced by many countries in the pre- and post-Cold War Era, to one that has changed in character and tone – and is in favour of economic growth and trade.
In recent years, Namibia has seemingly adopted a ‘Look East’ approach – doing increasingly more business with China and India. The new policy must, therefore, formalise the country’s dealing with emerging markets, but with emphasis on leverage so that such bilateral agreements are not swayed in favour of those nations at our own expense.
We have observed with concern that at times Namibia is ripped off in these dealings – with countries like China sometimes making it a condition that their citizens must be employed on projects their country does in Namibia.
This does not only keep Namibians at the periphery of the job market, but also denies them necessary skills when kept out of major high-tech projects implemented in the country.
It was good to see President Geingob reiterating the country’s long-standing stance that Namibia is a friend to all and enemy to none. This is a good strategy for any country that does not have significant influence on international affairs – politically and economically.
While dealing with emerging powerhouses, like China, Namibia must cling onto her relations with established economies like the USA, Britain and Germany – its single biggest donor nation.
The danger of overreliance on the West – especially for aid – is its perceived nature of perpetual confrontations, sanctions, threats and demonisation of nations whose conduct is in conflict with the West’s own interests.
The East has not had a history of dictating to especially Africans how to conduct themselves and this ties in with Geingob’s recent perpetual call for a renewed sense of commitment to Pan-Africanism on the continent.
The way forward is to allow African countries economic independence and the freedom to run their own political affairs in the context of African interest – and Namibia’s new international relations policy must speak to these aspirations.
In charting our new policy, we must be brave enough to put Namibia first and not tumble under fear of what the ‘big brothers’ of this world would say about us. We should not play to the whims of other nations, who too have unapologetic foreign policies designed to benefit nobody but themselves.
Our international relations policy must have clear stances on SADC, the AU, the Commonwealth, the World Bank and IMF and other important regional and international players, who have a bearing on nations’ domestic affairs.
Antagonism between international actors arises from the conflict of values and the pursuit of divergent national interests – which is exactly why Namibia must be clear and steadfast in defence of her values and interests, and must pursue those without an iota of guilt.