President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibia sees India as a key partner in unlocking the country’s mining, energy, and oil and gas potential, calling for stronger trade and investment ties that deliver real economic development.
Speaking during the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s State Visit to Windhoek, the President outlined a vision for turning Namibia’s natural resources into engines of prosperity, with India playing a central role as both investor and technology partner.
She said the visit came at a time when both nations are determined to move beyond historic solidarity into a new era of economic partnership.
“We see immense potential for scaling up cooperation in the following strategic areas: green hydrogen and clean energy, mining and value addition, and oil and gas,” she told the Indian delegation, framing these sectors as top priorities in the bilateral relationship.
Namibia is aggressively developing its green hydrogen strategy, aiming to become a global supplier of clean energy while decarbonising its own economy.
The President said Indian investment and technology could help accelerate large-scale hydrogen production, supporting both countries’ climate commitments and creating much-needed employment opportunities at home.
On mining, she called for a shift from raw extraction to value addition, inviting Indian firms to invest in local processing and manufacturing. Namibia’s mineral wealth—from critical battery metals to diamonds and uranium—offers fertile ground for joint ventures that could transform the country’s industrial base and strengthen its export earnings.
Oil and gas cooperation also featured prominently in the President’s remarks, with Namibia on the brink of developing its first commercial offshore discoveries.
She encouraged India’s energy companies to explore upstream partnerships that would support Namibia’s goal of becoming an oil-producing nation by 2030.
Such collaboration, she noted, would deliver shared benefits through technology transfer, job creation, and the development of local service industries.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah said existing mechanisms like the Namibia–India Joint Trade Committee would be vital in turning these opportunities into concrete projects, adding that both countries needed to “do more to develop and capitalize on the opportunities available to us.”
She positioned trade and investment as the core of a broader agenda to attract meaningful foreign direct investment, diversify Namibia’s economy, reduce poverty, and deliver a dignified life for all citizens.
She closed her remarks by expressing confidence that the State Visit would give new impetus to these goals, leveraging the historic bonds of solidarity between Namibia and India to build a modern partnership grounded in mutual economic growth.
