Mine and Energy minister, Tom Alweendo has called for responsible use of revenue generated from the country’s diamond resources cognisant that the available diamonds will on day run out.
Speaking at Debmarine Namibia’s annual stakeholder engagement, Alweendo highlighted that mining as a major contributor to the Namibian economy, stands at the forefront of Namibia’s sustainable national development agenda.
“Let us, however, also remember that diamonds are finite. One day – hopefully many years from now – diamonds will run out. We must be responsible today, to use the revenue we generate from diamonds wisely, so that the generations that follow us will be able to answer the question…. What did they do with the money they got for the diamonds? We need that question to be answered enthusiastically – they built hospitals, schools and provided scholarship and training opportunities – which laid the foundation for the skills of tomorrow.
“We need to build that long-term positive legacy today. It is through mining the resources that we are able to provide employment opportunities to the unemployed Namibians. It is through mining that we can provide livelihood to the Namibian people, making the mining industry a beacon of light in the national strive towards prosperity,” Alweendo said.
He also noted that Debmarine Namibia continues to be the largest single private sector contributor to the treasury.
“Last year Debmarine acquired the MV Benguela Gem and this is a testament that the company is a pioneer of innovation in marine mineral extraction. The MV Benguela Gem is expected to deliver revenue in excess of N$3 billion annually. This translates to royalty and taxes of more than N$1 billion – and this is in addition to dividends. It is through these revenues that the Government is able to provide public services such as education, healthcare, social-grants and many other projects aimed at uplifting the quality of life for the Namibia’s people,” explained Alweendo.
Alweendo also expressed optimism at the future of the country considering the recent oil discoveries offshore Namibia among other green shoots.
“Recently our journey to prosperity has been given a shot in the arm that we so badly need, where promising things have happened in both our petroleum and mining sectors. For example, in the petroleum sector, oil has been discovered in sufficient quantities that justify commercial production, and soon Namibia will be an oil producing country. In the mining sector, because of the energy transition brought about by the global undertaking to address the effects of climate change, there is now a global demand for critical raw materials and metals. Some of these minerals, such as lithium, are available in our country. Our push to be one of the first countries to produce the energy of the future – GH2 – has added more optimism that indeed Namibia is on journey towards prosperity and our V2030,” he said adding that when it comes to the mining sector and with regards to the critical raw materials, these are minerals that are highly sought after globally.
“For that reason alone, we cannot mine these minerals where they are exported in their basic raw form or where minimal value has been added. We must insist that critical raw materials are not exported without value being added locally. And where possible, we need to insist that processed minerals are used as inputs into locally manufactured goods, such as batteries, allowing us to export manufactured goods. Given the importance of the two sectors to our economy, the public is justified to be interested in how we manage the two sectors. The public is demanding that we be good stewards of our natural resources – resources that belong to them.”
Further explaining, Alweendo noted that one of the biggest concern the public has is that of local ownership.
There is a growing public voice criticizing the fact that the companies exploiting Namibia’s petroleum and minerals resources are mainly owned by foreign investors.
“This is an important issue that requires our urgent attention, and it requires us to discuss it candidly and with pragmatism. We need to figure out how to change the status quo, while ensuring that we do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The two sectors must continue to be economically beneficial to the Namibian people by attracting the necessary investment.
“What has contributed to the status where both the mining and petroleum sectors are dominated by foreign investors, is the fact that operating in these sectors requires complex technologies and is capital intensive. These are two things that we unfortunately do not have enough of. It is only those who have access to risk capital that have ventured to invest in these sectors. I am not mentioning this to justify the status quo. We need to find urgent solutions how to empower with the wherewithal to invest in the extraction of our natural resources. However, I am mentioning it so that we have a better appreciation of what we might have to do to change the status quo,” said Alweendo.