Namibia yesterday assumed chairmanship of the oldest customs union summit in the world, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). 

Namibia took over the reins at the SACU Summit, Council of Ministers and Commission, effective 15 July 2024 to 14 July 2025. Namibia took over from the Kingdom of Lesotho, who held the SACU chair from 15 July 2023 to 14 July 2024. 

The SACU chairmanship rotates, in alphabetical order, among the SACU member states for a period of 12 months. 

This means as of yesterday, President Nangolo Mbumba assumed the chairpersonship of the SACU Summit from Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho. 

“The Republic of Namibia will assume the role of chairperson of the SACU Council of Ministers, SACU Commission, Senior Trade and Finance Officials, Heads of Customs, Commissioners General, as well as the Technical Committees and various Technical Experts responsible for implementing the SACU Strategic Plan, taking over from the Kingdom of Lesotho. The Republic of South Africa will assume the chairmanship of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee, taking over from the Republic of Namibia,” read a statement from SACU.

Towards the end of last year, former President Hage Geingob called for a re-evaluation of the SACU approach, citing the persistent industrialisation challenges posed by the existing system. 

He said due to stringent SACU policies ,Namibia cannot directly import cars and other goods.

 “I told my colleagues that as long as SACU is run in this way, we cannot industrialise. Hence,we need to seriously look at SACU, and see what we can do. We need to find alternatives,” said Geingob at the time.

He remained adamant that Namibia cannot undertake significant development without effective multilateral and bilateral partners.