Mineworkers at Rosh Pinah Zinc Corporation (RPZC) will now be able to buy shares and build long-term wealth through a new payroll deduction agreement signed between RPZC and NAMITVEST Investment Holdings.
The initiative, unveiled at a ceremony held at the mine, is designed to make investment accessible to ordinary workers by allowing members of the Mine Workers Union of Namibia (MUN) employed at RPZC to purchase shares directly from their salaries.
Under the agreement, workers can acquire NAMITVEST shares at half the standard price and pay for them in interest-free instalments over 60 months.
Once their instalments are complete, they retain full ownership of their shares, even if they leave employment at the mine.
The scheme has already proved financially rewarding, with shareholders having benefited from dividend payments in November 2024 and April 2025.
A further distribution is scheduled for December this year.
Beyond dividends, participating workers enjoy additional benefits through NAMITVEST’s MyGateway app, which offers retail discounts, airtime bonuses and other rewards aimed at improving household savings and purchasing power.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mekondjo Erastus, Head of Research and ESG and Director at Monasa Advisory & Associates, described the initiative as a significant step in broadening investment opportunities for mineworkers.
He noted that NAMITVEST currently holds a 25 per cent stake in NAMMIC Holdings, a share valued at more than N$800 million.
NAMITVEST has also invested alongside major Namibian companies, including Capricorn, B2Gold, Walvis Bay Salt and Avis.
According to Erastus, this track record forms the foundation of a growing investment platform “for workers, by workers.”
MUN leaders welcomed the agreement as a significant milestone for economic empowerment within the mining sector.
MUN Southern Regional Chairperson Allen Mayemelo Kalumbu said the initiative represented “a bridge connecting economic opportunity with social justice,” giving workers the chance to become genuine participants in wealth creation rather than passive beneficiaries of wages.
Paulus Situmba, the MUN Assistant General Secretary and a director of NAMITVEST, highlighted its long-term impact.
He said the initiative shifts workers’ perception from mere employees to recognised stakeholders and co-owners.
“This agreement acknowledges MUN members as stakeholders and co-owners, giving them control over part of their financial future. Through NAMITVEST, union members can invest in themselves, their families and the collective strength of our movement,” he said.
RPZC Acting General Manager Roelof Pretorius said the company strongly supports initiatives that promote shared prosperity.
He described the agreement as an investment in people who contribute daily to the mine’s success.
“It ensures that our employees, who dedicate their skill and energy to this company every day, can now participate in an investment that builds long-term financial security and ownership,” he noted.
With the agreement now formalised, hundreds of workers at Rosh Pinah will be able to build equity in one of Namibia’s strongest worker-driven investment vehicles, signalling a shift in how the mining industry approaches worker empowerment and long-term financial inclusion.
