When the vice president Lucia Witbooi, travels to Algiers in September to represent President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF2025), she carries more than a delegation badge.
She carries Namibia’s opportunity to shape its place in a continental market of 1.4 billion people, underpinned by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The fair, themed “A Gateway to New Opportunities”, is not just a showcase of trade. It is a laboratory for Africa’s economic future.
The AfCFTA, established in 2018 and operational since 2021, is the largest free trade agreement since the formation of the World Trade Organisation. Its ambition is bold: eliminate tariffs on up to 90% of goods, liberalise trade in services, and promote free movement of businesspersons across the continent. If implemented with urgency and integrity, it could boost intra-African trade by more than 50 percent within a decade. For Namibia, a small, open economy at the edge of the continent, this agreement represents both a lifeline and a test.
Namibia’s strategic position
Namibia is blessed with geography and infrastructure that many African nations envy. The Walvis Bay deep-sea port, linked to the continent’s interior by the Walvis Bay Corridor Group network, offers a critical gateway to the Atlantic Ocean. Already, cargo from Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Botswana flows through our ports. The AfCFTA gives us the chance to formalise and expand this role as a logistics hub for Southern and Central Africa.
But being a gateway is not enough. Namibia must ensure that its export basket evolves beyond raw materials. At present, our economy remains heavily reliant on diamonds, uranium, and beef. These commodities earn foreign exchange but do little to insulate us from global shocks or create high-quality jobs. To benefit from the AfCFTA, Namibia must drive value addition. Our fish should not leave our shores as frozen blocks but as branded, packaged products ready for supermarket shelves across Africa. Our minerals should not only feed foreign smelters but underpin local manufacturing that supplies regional industries.
Opportunities in agriculture and manufacturing
The AfCFTA opens a market of over US$3.5 trillion GDP for Namibian producers. Agriculture presents perhaps the clearest opportunity. With strategic investment in irrigation and technology, Namibia can become a reliable supplier of beef, horticultural products, and agro-processed goods to African markets where food demand is soaring.
Already, Namibian beef has won access to the European Union (EU) and Chinese markets, evidence of its global competitiveness. But those markets are distant and expensive to serve. African neighbours, by contrast, are hungry and near.
Similarly, Namibia’s manufacturing sector, though small, can be repositioned. Textiles, leather products, and automotive components (assembled through partnerships with South African and global firms) can be marketed under AfCFTA preferences. The crucial question is whether Namibia can build industrial capacity quickly enough to compete. That depends on domestic policies: incentives for manufacturers, streamlined customs processes, and targeted training for workers.
The role of SMEs and youth
One of AfCFTA’s transformative promises lies in its potential to integrate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into continental value chains. For Namibia, where SMEs are the backbone of employment, this is vital. With proper support, SMEs can participate in e-commerce platforms that sell Namibian crafts, cosmetics, and agro-products across borders. But our entrepreneurs need more than inspiration, they need access to finance, affordable transport, and digital infrastructure.
The youth, too, are central. With unemployment rates stubbornly high, AfCFTA could become a launchpad for young Namibians to create regional businesses. Imagine Namibian tech start-ups offering payment solutions in Lusaka, or fashion designers selling collections in Lagos. This requires a deliberate government strategy to link young entrepreneurs with continental opportunities, mentorship, and capital.
Risks and challenges
We must not romanticise. AfCFTA will not automatically translate into prosperity. Larger economies such as Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa possess industrial bases that dwarf Namibia’s. Without careful strategy, Namibia risks becoming merely a consumer of imports rather than an exporter of goods and services. Non-tariff barriers, such as cumbersome border procedures, poor transport networks, and inconsistent regulations, remain formidable. If not addressed, they will erode the promise of tariff reductions.
There is also the danger of policy complacency. Signing an agreement is one thing; implementing its provisions is another. Namibia must modernise its customs systems, harmonise standards with regional bodies, and reduce the bureaucratic hurdles that frustrate cross-border traders. Unless these bottlenecks are removed, the AfCFTA will remain a paper dream.
How Namibia should position itself
To turn AfCFTA into a real benefit, Namibia should consider three strategic imperatives:
Build regional value chains: Namibia must anchor itself in regional production networks. For example, beef exports could be linked with leather goods production, which in turn supports footwear manufacturing across the SADC region. Similarly, our renewable energy investments in green hydrogen can power energy-intensive industries in neighbouring countries, creating symbiotic trade relationships.
Invest in infrastructure and logistics: Walvis Bay, Lüderitz, and Grootfontein can become the arteries of African trade. But this requires constant investment in ports, rail, and digital tracking systems. Efficient logistics will be Namibia’s comparative advantage, but only if supported by modern infrastructure.
Empower entrepreneurs and SMEs: Establish export readiness programmes that prepare Namibian businesses for regional markets. Simplify financing for exporters through partnerships with Afreximbank and local banks. Create digital trade platforms where Namibian SMEs can showcase products continent-wide.
The AfCFTA is not a magic wand, it is an opportunity. Whether Namibia benefits depends on our readiness to act decisively. We must resist the temptation of passive participation and instead chart an active strategy that positions Namibia as both a hub and a producer in Africa’s new economic order.
Her excellency Lucia Witbooi’s presence in Algiers is symbolic, but symbolism must be matched with substance. Namibia must return from IATF2025 not only with pledges and photographs but with concrete partnerships, new markets for our products, and a clearer vision of our continental role.
The time for hesitation is over. The African market is forming, and those who prepare will reap its rewards. Namibia has the resources, the geography, and the talent to succeed. What we need now is the courage and commitment to seize the AfCFTA for what it truly is: a gateway to Namibia’s future prosperity.
