President Nangolo Mbumba has urged locals to seize the opportunities presented by the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projected to grow by 3.4% this year, alongside oil discoveries and a promising green hydrogen transition.
“We want Namibians to actively participate and benefit from the unfolding economic boom,” he said during the opening of Cabinet yesterday.
Namibia has grappled with an economic recession since 2015, a crisis compounded by a crippling drought and the disruptive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the economy has exceeded its pre-pandemic level, showing a growth rate of 7.2% in the third quarter of 2023, according to the Bank of Namibia.
Mbumba states that these figures show the country is back on a positive trajectory of economic recovery in various sectors, particularly agriculture, mining, fisheries, tourism, oil and gas, and green energy.
“Over the festive season, many of us directly witnessed that Namibia experienced one of the best tourist inflows of domestic, international, and regional tourists, with large numbers coming from the SADC region.
On the energy front, green hydrogen is set to play a major role in the transformation of the Namibian economy. Its development is expected to stimulate further growth in adjacent industries, including logistics, agriculture, and sustainable manufacturing,” he mentioned.
This year, three green hydrogen pilot projects are set to start operations.
“We are also expecting the final announcements on the Total Energies’ Venus-1, Shell’s Graff-1, and Jonker-IX oil blocks. We are informed that these three blocks are estimated to have a combined estimate of 2.5 billion barrels of oil,” he said.
Mbumba also boasted of the new oil discoveries by Galp Energeia of Portugal, Custos Energy, and Namcor in the prolific orange basin earlier this year.
“The Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund that we established to benefit our citizens, including generations to come, will play a vital role in ensuring inter-generational equity,” he said.
The President said the nation’s collective efforts during the past years aimed at achieving economic recovery, inclusive growth, and shared prosperity under the Harambee Prosperity Plan I and II have borne the desired results.
The Harambee Prosperity Plan I and II, a brainchild of the late president Hage Geingob, are aimed at addressing socio-economic challenges and accelerating development across various sectors such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and job creation.
His successor, Mbumba, urged Cabinet members to be mindful that the nation has entrusted them with the mandate to grow the economy, improve livelihoods, and enhance inclusive prosperity for all citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origin, race, and gender.
“I am, therefore, urging the responsible government ministries to start implementing all pending programmes to fast-track economic development and create employment opportunities for our people, particularly the youth,” he urged.
The head of State also added that despite advances and good economic prospects, much needs to be done.
“Ministers should return to your offices and redouble efforts in conjunction with your deputies, executive directors, and staff to ensure that all issues and tasks in your ministries are addressed and concluded without delay,” he said, further urging the Prime Minister to regularly follow up with officials to check on those outstanding issues and report to him so that they can hold public servants accountable for their performances.
Corruption
While he emphasised the nation’s participation in economic activities, he also raised concerns about corruption in the budding energy sector.
“In line with our government’s clear resolve to promote accountability and transparency, we will continue to strengthen the policy measures aimed at fighting against corruption. Therefore, I would like to call upon our law enforcement agencies, Nampol, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Judiciary, Parliament, the media, and all our citizens to continue to play their respective roles to keep Namibia transparent and corruption-free,” said the President.