Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Cross-border travelling subject to approval

Home National Cross-border travelling subject to approval
Cross-border travelling subject to approval

Namibians living along the border with Angola have been reminded to apply to travel if there is genuine reason to do so as borders remain closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“The borders are closed due to Covid-19, but individuals can write to us to be permitted to move,” said the immigration ministry’s spokesperson Margaret Kalo.

She said people may apply to travel for business, medical issues or any other valid reason.

Kalo clarified that the approval will depend on the merit of the application, stressing that Angolans are already being let into the country to seek medical help.

As has been the norm, a number of Angolan nationals, especially those who live along the borders, frequent Namibian hospitals for medical assistance at both public and private hospitals.

The concern for the continued closure of borders was raised by business owners in Oshikango, who before Covid-19 relied on trade between Namibia and Angola.

The entrepreneurs say the two countries are interdependent in trade, and as a result many local businesses benefited greatly from the visits of Angolan nationals, especially those residing along the borders.

Former mayor of Helao Nafidi Eliaser Nghipangelwa praised government for allowing business to continue, despite the application process being in place.

He said the status quo is worrisome because although the borders are closed, nationals from both countries cross into the two countries illegally by using ungazetted points.

The former mayor said with the existing decision in place to apply to travel, there is a need to create awareness so that people can apply and pass at the borders.

He stressed that given the nature of the borders, it remains impossible for police officers to control human movements tightly.

“The situation at hand is not to say that our police officers are not working, they are. But the nature of the borders makes police patrols almost impossible,” he said.

When all is set, there will be more people passing through the borders, and those who are required to honour their tax obligations will do so and properly contribute to the economy of the country.

Nghipangelwa said people are now using ungazetted points for both good and bad deeds as some are now using such areas to smuggle contraband into the country.

nashipala@nepc.com.na