Opinions

Paved Roads, Unpaved Lives

There’s something to be said about Namibia’s roads. Anyone who has driven across our vast, open country knows the feeling, smooth tar under your wheels, horizons stretching endlessly, and barely a pothole in sight. In fact, our roads are ranked among the very best on the African continent. That’s no small feat for a nation as sparsely populated as ours. With a population of only about three million people, we have close to 49,000 kilometers of roads crisscrossing this wide land. Of those, around 6,600 kilometers are fully paved to international standards. For perspective, that’s roughly 16 meters of road…
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The slow death of our towns: Namibia’s local authorities in crisis

As Namibia heads toward the local authority elections this November, one cannot help but look around our towns and villages and ask: What has become of us? The decay is not only physical but moral, institutional, and systemic. Our local authorities, which should be the engines of development and custodians of urban dignity, have instead become symbols of mismanagement, neglect, and corruption. What we are witnessing is not just decline; it is the slow, painful death of our towns, one municipality at a time. From Dreams of Housing to Settlements of Despair Drive into almost any Namibian town today, and the first…
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Namibia, wake up: The reparations fight is your fight too

Much is being said about the reparation talks between Namibia and Germany. To the casual observer, it might seem as though the process has come a long way. After all, Germany has admitted wrongdoing and even recognized the atrocities committed against the Nama and Ovaherero people as genocide. Some consider this progress. But let’s be honest, it is not. It is a carefully worded statement, a hollow concession designed to appease rather than truly atone.What happened in Namibia between 1904 and 1908 was genocide, by every moral and legal definition. Tens of thousands of Nama and Ovaherero were slaughtered, driven…
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Socio-economic growth war with public and private ownership

Socio-economic growth war with public and private ownership

Efraim Shimbali  Namibia and Africa at large, has suffered a huge socio-economic dilution. To understand this dilution, one ought to dig deep to the roots of Africa’s historic community pre-colonialism. Communities of empires with a single head of governance and control. A background of social inclusion and economic ownership of togetherness as well as exchange of possessions without being bias. Gone are the days of investment through sharing. Days of kings or queens receiving economic assistance from the community, and when bad days approach, the palace rescues. Many will recall how Africans went to war with kings and queens only…
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NAMIBIA’S RECLASSIFICATION AS A MIRROR, NOT A STIGMA

NAMIBIA’S RECLASSIFICATION AS A MIRROR, NOT A STIGMA

Tio Nakasole Every year, the World Bank Group classifies the world’s economies into four income groups: low, low-middle, upper-middle, and high. These classifications get updated each year on 1 July, based on the previous year’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, expressed in U.S. dollars using the Atlas method. Based on the generous numerical definition of the World Bank's 2024 gross national income (GNI) per capita, economies are divided differently among income groups.  Using the World Bank Atlas method, income calculated per annum is low income, $1,145 or less; lower middle income, $1,146 to $4,515; upper middle income, $4,516 to…
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Namibia’s Wealth Shift: A new generation, a new legacy

Namibia’s Wealth Shift: A new generation, a new legacy

Veruscka Gertze Namibia stands at the tip of a new generation; one where wealth built up by baby boomers and older Gen Xers is starting to pass on to the next generation. But this is not simply an issue of wealth changing hands. It's an issue of changing how wealth is managed, protected, and used according to new values, new family dynamics, and modern realities. Once, most families focused on building wealth in the form of assets like real estate, retirement funds, and businesses.  That's still true, but how families are handling their wealth is evolving. With greater financial sophistication,…
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It’s Time to Ask the Hard Questions About Doing Business in Namibia

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s decision to integrate Trade into the Ministry of International Relations deserves praise. It is a smart move, one that aligns Namibia’s foreign policy with the urgent need to attract investment. It tells the world that Namibia is ready to do business. But the bigger question is, how easy is it to actually do business here? The truth is, Namibia offers plenty of opportunities. We have political stability, rich natural resources, and a location that opens doors to regional markets. On paper, we look attractive. Yet, the reality on the ground often tells a different story. Investors quickly…
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Do Liberation Movements (LMs) pass their sell-by?

Do Liberation Movements (LMs) pass their sell-by?

Kae Matundu Tjiparuro Have the Southern African Liberation Movements (LMs) now passed their sell-by dates, run their course, served their purposes, and are no more relevant and/or of any consequence to their countries next phase?  These are pertinent questions, as these movements, most of them years after the political independence of their countries, have now just been running on the crest of their so-called liberation exploits, their claim to having brought, through the nominal political independence of their respective countries, albeit not singularly and solely, it must be said. But at best, having been to a great degree instrumental thereto. …
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The former liberation movements: The imperative of pan-African refoundation and amílcar cabral’s thoughts of the battle against our own weakness

The former liberation movements: The imperative of pan-African refoundation and amílcar cabral’s thoughts of the battle against our own weakness

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Abstract This article critically examines the contemporary relevance and challenges facing Southern Africa’s former liberation movements, specifically in the context of the LIBERATION MOVEMENTS SUMMIT 2025: The three-day indaba, which began last Friday and concluded on Sunday with the Summit of Heads of State and Leaders of Liberation Movements, ran under the theme “Defending the Liberation Gains, Advancing Integrated Socio-Economic Development, Strengthening Solidarity for a Better Africa.” The summit brought together six former liberation movements—the ANC of South Africa (host and outgoing chair), Zanu-PF (Zimbabwe), MPLA (Angola), SWAPO (Namibia), Frelimo…
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GOVERNANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF SOE BOARD MEMBERS WINDOW DRESSING

GOVERNANCE: AN ANALYSIS OF SOE BOARD MEMBERS WINDOW DRESSING

JOSEF KEFAS SHEEHAMA It's time to have an uncomfortable conversation and be honest with each other. It is upsetting and sad to watch Namibia's multiple scandals emerge, particularly those involving State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in an array of critical economic sectors. This piece will not pinpoint specific entities involved in corruption and mismanagement scandals that have threatened our citizens' livelihoods and service delivery. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah stated during her inaugural speech that corruption is treason and should be treated as such. As a result, corruption emerges as soon as new administrations take office as part of their commitment to improving transparency…
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