Bannerman Energy is targeting Namibians to make up more than 80% of its employees as it begins staged recruitment and workforce development ahead of future operations at the Etango uranium project in the Erongo Region.
The company has assessed its workforce requirements for the next 12 to 18 months and is planning the sequence in which it will recruit and bring into the organisation management, operational, technical, health and safety, environmental, and support employees as the project advances.
Bannerman has not disclosed how many permanent employees it expects to recruit under the workforce plan. Still, its latest sustainability targets make the local employment threshold measurable, requiring more than four out of every five employees recruited to be Namibian.
“Advance implementation of the workforce plan through staged recruitment and workforce capability development in preparation for future operations,” Bannerman says in its Sustainability Scorecard and Targets 2026/27 released on 17 August.
It separately sets a target to “achieve local Namibian recruitment target of more than 80% employees”.
The employment target comes as Etango’s workforce is already expanding through contractors undertaking early construction works, although the more than 80% target relates to Bannerman’s employees rather than the total contractor workforce currently on site.
Contractor workforce already above 560
Bannerman reported in March that the Etango site contractor workforce had grown to more than 560 people as construction early works expanded, up from more than 370 in December 2025.
The increase means the contractor workforce grew by at least 190 people in about three months as earthworks, concrete construction, engineering, procurement and infrastructure development progressed.
Bannerman said in March that bulk earthworks were about 66.5% complete, while 5 509 cubic metres of concrete had been poured under the Phase 1 and Phase 2A contracts for the primary crusher, stockpile tunnel and fine ore silo. Civil and mechanical design for the dry plant was about 93% complete, while the first phase of the permanent water supply pipeline was about 70% complete.
The latest workforce target points to another employment phase beyond the contractors currently building the project, as Bannerman starts preparing the organisation that would eventually operate Etango.
During the past financial year, the company assessed the employees and skills it expects to require over the next 12 to 18 months as part of preparations to move from project development towards operational readiness.
“Particular focus was placed on sequencing critical recruitment and onboarding aligned with project milestones and the operational ramp-up plan, ensuring the necessary management, operational, technical, HSE, environmental and support capabilities are in place ahead of future operations,” the company said.
Bannerman is also planning to establish and operationalise a human resources information and payroll system during the 2027 financial year to support the expected organisational growth.
Recruitment tied to Etango development
The recruitment programme remains tied to progress towards a final investment decision on Etango, with Bannerman saying it continues to advance key project workstreams towards a targeted positive FID.
The company said the 2026 financial year marked a significant stage in the project’s development, following its strategic joint venture agreement with CNNC Overseas and continued early construction work, which required Bannerman to expand its governance, management systems and organisational capacity ahead of full-scale construction.
Etango was granted its mining licence in December 2023 and is designed initially as an eight-million-tonne-per-year operation producing an average of about 3.5 million pounds of uranium oxide annually. A subsequent expansion study demonstrated the potential to increase production to 6.7 million pounds a year.
The project is planned for a mine life of more than 15 years.
Local target moves into recruitment phase
The more than 80% target comes as Bannerman moves beyond general commitments on local employment to a specific recruitment benchmark against which it can measure its workforce.
The company has not yet provided a breakdown of how many jobs will fall into each category, when individual recruitment rounds will begin or what proportion of management and highly technical positions it expects to fill locally.
Its 12-to-18-month workforce assessment, however, covers the positions required to prepare the company for operations and specifically identifies management, operational, technical, HSE, environmental and support capabilities.
The company is also turning its attention to the local supply chain as construction expands. Its 2027 targets include introducing supplier and contractor prequalification and due-diligence processes, while its social investment programme will place additional emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprise development.
Bannerman introduced a Supply Chain Code of Conduct during the past financial year, setting requirements for ethical conduct and responsible business practices among companies participating in its supply chain.
With more than 560 contractor personnel already reported on site and Bannerman now preparing staged recruitment for its future operating organisation, Etango is entering a phase in which the scale of Namibian employment will increasingly depend not only on construction activity but on how the company implements its commitment to ensure more than 80% of its own employees are recruited locally.
