Solewant Group, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil and gas engineering and industrial solutions providers, has formally launched its comprehensive range of specialty protective coatings and paints to the Namibian market, marking a significant milestone in the company’s strategic expansion across Africa’s burgeoning energy landscape.
At the heart of the launch was the introduction of the Solewant Specialty Protective Coatings & Paints (SSPC) range, encompassing advanced water-based acrylic emulsions including the Solguard Emulsion, Matt, and Silk paints, which are formulated for superior whiteness, adhesion, and weather resistance. The portfolio extends to high-performance industrial coatings such as the Solguard Alkyd Gloss Enamel and the Red Oxide Metal Primer. Designed for critical infrastructure, the lineup features sophisticated two-component systems including the Zinc-Rich Epoxy Primer, High-Build Epoxy Coat, and Acrylic Polyurethane Coat, engineered to provide sacrificial corrosion protection, high mechanical strength, and exceptional UV resistance.
In a significant move for environmental sustainability and industrial safety, the Group also presented its Novaguard range of 100 percent solid, solvent-free coatings. This family includes fast-curing epoxy, polyurethane, and polyurea formulations that contain zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs), delivering seamless protective barriers against corrosion, abrasion, and chemical exposure while ensuring long-term durability. The Novaguard solution has been specifically targeted at marine assets including vessels, ships, and infrastructure around waterways, with particular attention to corrosion resistance in saline environments.
Dr Ben Ubleble, Executive Secretary of the Solewant Energy Training Institute (SETI), spoke exclusively to Business Express on the sidelines of the Namibia Oil and Gas Conference (NOGC) 2026 about the company’s ambitious plans for Namibia, emphasising that the products have been specifically engineered to withstand the country’s harsh environmental conditions.
“When you are bringing paints and coatings into an environment like Namibia, you consider durability,” Ubleble explained. “For 12 years, we had a team of professors, who spent time re-evaluating our products through rigorous scientific analysis and laboratory trials.”
The executive highlighted that the coatings incorporate renewable elements designed not to destroy ecosystems, addressing growing environmental sustainability concerns.
Beyond durability, Ubleble stressed the affordability advantage of the African-manufactured products, noting that over 60 percent of raw materials used in the chemical composition are sourced within the continent. This local sourcing strategy enables value retention and shields Namibian businesses from the currency exchange pressures associated with importing from Europe, the United States, or China.
“We are manufacturing in Nigeria, and the geography from Nigeria to Namibia is considerably closer in terms of proximity,” Ubleble said. “The products are affordable, and we have looked at market valuations to ensure competitive pricing.”
The company has already established a Namibian presence through a local entity and subsidiary of the Solewant Group. Ubleble announced that the company plans to create a network of local distributors, offering dealership rates 10 to 15 percent lower than retail prices, providing Namibian small and medium enterprises with access to the products at production costs.
“The Namibian people deserve to benefit from the value we are proposing to the market,” Ubleble stated. “We have plans to acquire substantial land to replicate our success in Nigeria here on Namibian soil. Within a couple of months, we will have a warehouse where locals who may not have cross-border trading capability can walk in and get what they need.”
Perhaps most significantly, Ubleble outlined the company’s commitment to technology transfer and skills development through the Solewant Energy Training Institute, established in 2012 to address manpower development challenges across the oil and gas value chain. The Solewant Group’s commitment to human capital development is exemplified by its training institute, which aims to cultivate the engineers and technicians required to sustain Africa’s industrial transformation.
“The next phase determines how far the Namibian government is going to go as far as these resources are concerned,” Ubleble cautioned. “It requires capability. When you transfer technology, you are transferring responsibility. Are you ready to take responsibility? Do you have trained manpower? Do you have technicians? Fabricators? Equipment maintenance personnel? Quality control professionals?”
The executive expressed concern about the slow pace of collaboration with local authorities, revealing that a Memorandum of Understanding drafted with the Namibia Training Authority has remained unsigned since a meeting on April 14, 2026.
“It’s quite worrisome because time is of the essence,” Ubleble said. “The timeline between exploration and production is short. Once we sign the MOU, we can scope the skill supply gap in the market and draft a relevant curriculum to address it.”
Drawing from Nigeria’s experience, Ubleble warned against the risks of becoming a monocultural economy reliant solely on oil revenues, a pitfall that saw Nigeria abandon its agricultural and mining sectors following oil discovery.
“We have been in the business for 26 years. We understand trade negotiations, midstream and upstream complexities,” Ubleble noted. “We have successfully transferred and domesticated technologies from Canada, China, Germany, and the Netherlands. We are open to partnership with agencies like Namcor and government bodies, provided they give us a trade-enabling environment.”
During the NOGC conference, the company achieved significant milestones, including receiving the Vice-President of Namibia at their exhibition booth and engaging with members of the Namibia Training Authority. Ubleble reported that the company had achieved over 80 percent of its conference objectives, which included product exposure, networking, and government engagement.
“All we are doing is to be there from the private sector to give the government the boost they need in driving policies and legislation,” Ubleble said.
Looking ahead, the group aims to transform local participation into regional competitiveness, envisioning a future where Namibian engineers work alongside Nigerian specialists, South African manufacturers provide equipment, and African financial institutions supply capital.
Reflecting on the company’s expansion journey, Ubleble offered advice to Namibian entrepreneurs and businesses: “The number one lesson is persistence. Entrepreneurship is not cast in stone. Five in every ten startups are definitely going to crash by the fifth year. It is about the mindset of the vision bearer, because that is going to guide the business model you design.”
Speaking at the roadshow, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Solomon Ewanehi underscored that the entry into Namibia represents a deliberate effort to forge African industrial capacity and provide world-class solutions within the continent. “This is not just about selling products; it is about bringing African manufacturing capability to new markets and ensuring that the value derived from infrastructure projects remains on the continent,” Mr. Ewanehi said.
Highlighting the significance of timing for Namibia, Mr. Ewanehi noted that the country stands at a critical juncture between major oil and gas discoveries and large-scale development. He stressed that the period before production must be viewed as a window for building capability rather than a passive waiting phase. Drawing on Nigeria’s long history in the oil sector, he argued that Namibia possesses the unique advantage of hindsight, allowing it to avoid costly mistakes made by earlier producers and to design a local content framework that genuinely builds competitive national capability.
“A discovery tells us what exists beneath the ground; a dividend tells us what that discovery creates above the ground,” Mr. Ewanehi stated in his keynote address. He posited that the primary question is not how much oil Namibia will produce but rather what that production will yield for the nation in terms of engineers, technicians, entrepreneurs, and internationally competitive companies. He articulated the necessity of developing capabilities that can serve the petroleum sector today while migrating to serve the wider Namibian economy and the Southern African region tomorrow.
The group’s strategy is built on five foundational pillars: developing human capital through specialised training, creating competitive suppliers that meet international standards, building industrial capacity in areas like fabrication and asset integrity, forming technology partnerships that transfer knowledge, and establishing robust financing mechanisms to support indigenous businesses. This approach is designed to ensure that local content translates into genuine competitiveness rather than mere regulatory compliance.
With Namibia’s oil and gas sector transitioning from exploration to production, Solewant Group’s entry represents a significant vote of confidence in the country’s energy future and a commitment to developing local capacity alongside commercial opportunities. The Solewant Group’s entry into the Namibian market signals a robust vote of confidence in the country’s energy sector and its potential to become an industrial hub.