Namibia stands at a historic crossroads where the convergence of multi-billion-barrel offshore oil and gas reserves with world-class renewable and green hydrogen potential presents a generational opportunity to fundamentally reshape the economy, Bank of Namibia Governor Ebson Uanguta told a public lecture in Windhoek last Thursday.
Addressing students, academics and professionals at the University of Namibia, Governor Uanguta, together with his Botswana counterpart Lesego Caster Moseki, advanced a national dialogue on how resource wealth can be translated into sustainable, inclusive and intergenerational prosperity.
The Governor, in a presentation titled ‘Building Wealth Beyond Natural Resources: Creating Namibia’s Next Growth Story’, emphasised that while natural resources remain a critical anchor of the Namibian economy, resource wealth alone is an insufficient foundation for broad-based prosperity.
Historic Dual-Track Opportunity
Namibia’s economic structure remains heavily reliant on a mining sector dominated by diamonds and uranium, sectors that are capital-intensive and generate relatively low employment absorption while exposing the economy to volatile commodity prices and global demand shocks.
Yet the country now finds itself pursuing a dual-track strategy that pairs nascent oil and gas discoveries with renewable energy and green hydrogen potential. Recent oil and gas discoveries in the Orange Basin, including Jonker and Graff (Shell), Venus (TotalEnergies), Mopane (Galp), Volans and Capricornus (Rhino Resources), and Merlin-1X (Shell), have brought the total number of exploration and appraisal wells drilled in Namibia to fifty since the first Kudu Gas Field discovery in 1974.
The natural resources sector’s significance is underscored by foreign direct investment inflows and its role as a major source of foreign exchange reserves, fiscal revenue and foreign direct investment flows.
“Namibia should transform its natural resources into long-term financial assets that can benefit multiple generations,” Governor Uanguta told the gathering, as he outlined a vision for moving beyond extraction to build an economic model that generates opportunities throughout the economy.
Welwitschia Fund Gains Momentum
Central to this transformation is the Welwitschia Fund, established in 2022 to enhance Namibia’s resilience against cyclical and external shocks while promoting intergenerational equity. The Fund, whose Sovereign Wealth Fund of Namibia Bill is undergoing statutory approval and is envisaged to be tabled in Parliament later this year, comprises two components.
The Intergenerational Fund is designed to preserve and grow wealth for future generations, with strict rules against withdrawing capital, allowing only withdrawals against returns accruing from investments which must be channelled strictly into projects beneficial to future generations. The Stabilisation Fund provides a buffer that can be accessed under defined conditions to support fiscal stability during periods of revenue shortfalls, with withdrawals not exceeding ten percent of the account’s total asset value in a given year.
The Fund’s initial seed capital of USD 17.74 million was injected in early 2022, and as of 31 July 2026, the Fund has achieved an annualised return of 15.5 percent since inception, resulting in a total market value of USD 30.85 million.
Learning from Botswana’s Experience
Botswana’s Governor Moseki, in his presentation titled ‘The Pula Fund: Past, Present and Future’, provided important lessons for Namibia, tracing Botswana’s journey from mineral discovery to the establishment of one of Africa’s oldest sovereign wealth funds. He illustrated how diamond revenues were channelled into infrastructure, education, healthcare and social protection, while a portion of the country’s wealth was preserved for future generations.
Governor Moseki also reflected candidly on Botswana’s reliance on diamonds, cautioning that successful resource management requires fiscal discipline, deliberate saving, diversification and strong institutions, particularly because commodity booms can conceal underlying vulnerabilities until revenues begin to decline.
“We believed that diamonds were forever. They are, as a stone, but not as a source of foreign earnings,” Governor Moseki stated.
The Namibian Governor stressed that greater local value addition, auxiliary industries, technology transfer, knowledge development and stronger domestic supply chains would be critical to ensuring that resource wealth generates opportunities throughout the economy.
Call for Action Across Sectors
Governor Uanguta issued a clear call to action for students, academia, the private sector and the public sector. Students were challenged to build technical skills required in the resources sectors and auxiliary industries, while universities were encouraged to align curricula with skills requirements and tie research agendas to addressing national challenges.
The private sector was urged to invest in local value addition and supply chains and partner with universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions, while the public sector was called upon to develop legal and regulatory frameworks to effectively implement the National Upstream Petroleum Local Content Policy of 2025 to ensure maximum beneficiation for the local economy.
“In addition to generating revenues, the resources sector can also be useful to create auxiliary industries as well as technology transfer and knowhow agglomeration,” Governor Uanguta said, emphasising the importance of creating platforms where economic policy, national development and the management of public wealth can be discussed beyond institutional and academic boundaries.
The Bank of Namibia remains committed to promoting informed public discourse and ensuring that discussions on Namibia’s economic future are inclusive and accessible.
The engagement brought together the Bank of Namibia Governor, the Bank of Botswana Governor, along with students, academics, professionals from various sectors and other stakeholders, providing an opportunity not only to share perspectives on resource-led development but also for participants to engage the Governors directly through questions and dialogue on economic diversification, sovereign wealth management, investment, skills development and the choices required to secure long-term national prosperity.