A Conversation With President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah discusses Namibia’s socioeconomic developments, climate issues, nuclear energy, trade, and the country’s role in the region.

FRAZER: Good afternoon. It’s good to see you all. Welcome to today’s Council on Foreign Relations meeting with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia. I am Jendayi Frazer, Duignan distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, former adjunct senior fellow for Africa studies at CFR, and former U.S. ambassador to South Africa. And I will be presiding over today’s discussion. We are joined today by CFR members attending both virtually and in-person in New York. I would like to remind the audience and members that the meeting is on the record.

Is my great honor to welcome Your Excellency to CFR and to briefly introduce you. Dr. Nandi-Ndaitwah is the first female president of SWAPO and the first female president of the Republic of Namibia. She’s been—she’s done tremendous work for her country and for Africa, and I think you can see it globally. You can see her bio on the back of your programs. You can read her full bio. So mine will be a brief introduction. What I’d like to say is that she’s held these high-level political and ministerial positions within SWAPO and the government for over an uninterrupted period of fifty-seven years.

She joined SWAPO at the tender age of fourteen years old, was arrested, went into exile ino Zambia, attended school in the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, advocated for Namibia’s independence and for women’s welfare in U.N. councils and in global fora. She became the first Namibian minister of women affairs and child welfare for the country, then went on to be minister of information and broadcasting, minister of environment and tourism, minister of foreign affairs, deputy prime minister, vice president, and then she was elected as president on 3 December 2024, with 58.7 percent of the vote. And inaugurated to assume office on 21 March 2025. What an impressive history. Thank you.

(Pause.)

Sorry, Madam President. Please let me welcome you to the podium, for sure your remarks.

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Thank you very much for that introduction. Distinguished members of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad, with my delegation, to be here today in engaging the foreign relation council. As you know, we are at a time when Namibia and the African continent stands at the threshold of new opportunities and transformation.

First, I can talk about enhancing the demographic dividend. Namibia is a youthful nation. Above 70 percent of our population is under the age of thirty-five. And this demographic profile is one of our greatest strategic assets. We believe so in Namibia. We are therefore placing human capital at the center of our developmental agenda, strengthening education, digital access, vocational training, and pathway into innovation and enterprise. Hence, when I took office on the 21^st of March this year, one of the commitment we have made is to waive registration and tuition fees for universities and vocational training, in order to allow a Namibian young person to have access to education as part and parcel of human capital development.

Then we come to the issue of gender and human rights. Namibia is taking a deliberate step to institutionalize gender equality and advance human rights. I’m standing before you as the president, or head of state. And I’m serving along a female vice president; a female speaker of the National Assembly; and the secretary general of the SWAPO party, the ruling party in Namibia, who is also a woman. As well as I can say, I shouldn’t be the one to say that, but I believe you’ll be impressed to say that I have 57 percent women representation in the Cabinet and I’ve done this to affirm that equality in leadership is not symbolic but it is structural.

To young women aspiring to political leadership my advice is this. Lead with competency, act with clarity, and refuse to be defined by convictions. Your future is in your hands, and with integrity the sky is the limit.

Then another area of importance is national development and strategic sector. Our national agenda is anchored on structural transformation and economic diversification beyond primary commodities and building productivity capacities in key sectors including oil and gas, green hydrogen, agriculture, and agro-processing, and all this has to be supported by our mining sector and, of course, other economic sectors such as tourism, fishing, among others.

Together, these sectors form the pillars of our growth strategy alongside investment in infrastructure, logistics, and, as I mentioned earlier, human development.

Namibia is a coastal town and we have positioned ourselves to be a logistic hub and to create corridors from our hub to our neighboring countries with particular reference to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, who are landlocked, and that’s why we took a deliberate decision and to give them land for them to develop dry port. We believe that’s very strategic for regional cooperation, economic development, and for our region to have meaning with the passing of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, though I’m going to mention it as I proceed.

Another area that I feel I will share with you is the critical minerals and the value addition. Namibia is endowed with critical minerals and we have decided that value addition is a key. It’s very important to enable us to fully benefit from our natural resources. It’s a fact of life that for too long African natural resources have been leaving the continent and processing. That simply means Africa was transporting labor to other continents, thus leaving African young people unemployed and sometimes forcing them to risk their lives on the high seas trying to follow their jobs which were transported. We, therefore, as a government have decided that value addition is part of our strategy so that we can benefit to our resources, generate jobs, technological transfer, and, of course, together with the investors we share value of those resources.

Another important area is regional integration and trade. Namibia is a strong proponent of regional integration. Through the Southern Africa Development Community, SADC; the Southern Africa Customs Union, SACU; and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, we are committed to building resilient inter-Africa trade system. I am happy to inform you that recently Namibia dispatched its first export using the African Continental Free Trade Area framework from the port of Walvis Bay. This marks a tangible step towards realizing the promises of unified continental market in neighboring small states like ours to scale production and access new opportunities.

Another area of importance is international partnership and bilateral relations. Namibia, as we all know, is a builder for the international community. And with our independence, we find it appropriate to have a strong international partnership as well as strong bilateral relations.

It is with this in mind we can also talk how we value the longstanding relationship with the United States built on cooperation in public health, education, governance, and sustainable development. We see particular scope for deep collaboration in energy, critical minerals, digital innovation, and capacity building. We seek partnership that align with our national priorities and respect our sovereign development choice, anchored in mutual respect and shared benefit. And that’s why we also encourage private-public partnership on the clear understanding that our laws and policies are to be respected.

Another area that could have interest is the area of foreign policy engagement. Today we are proud that Namibia plays an active role on the world stage not only as a peaceful and stable democracy in Southern Africa, but also as a country committed to the future of multilateralism. Our independence came as a result of international solidarity, and it is this international solidarity based on multilateralism that has brought us where we are. And we remain committed and would want the international community, as well as the citizens of the world, to find value and to defend multilateralism at all times in order to ensure peaceful coexistence between nations and people.

Recently, Namibia served as a co-facilitator of the United Nations Pact for the Future alongside with the Federal Republic of Germany at the Seventy-Ninth Session of the United Nation(s) General Assembly. Namibia’s leadership role in this process reflects our belief that small states have a big responsibility and the capacity to help shape more just—more just global order. In co-leading the negotiation, we amplified voices of the Global South, the voices of the youth, and the aspirations of future generation. The Pact for the Future is not simply about policy reform; it’s a moral commitment to build a future that is inclusive, sustainable, and grounded in solidarity across borders. That’s why this Pact for the Future also recognize the important role Africa can play once the U.N. Security Council is reformed. Finally, I can talk about the global financial reform. As part and parcel of the globe, we need to benefit from the resources of the globe. The current international financial architectures, rooted in the Bretton Wood system, must evolve to reflect the reality of today’s multipolar and interconnected world.

We support the reforms that give voice to developing countries, express access to concessional finances, and deliver climate and development financial, at scale. The current system that the north and the south, they borrow from these institutions on different terms. And to make it worse, it is made expensive for the countries of the south but made it cheaper for the north. That is not democracy. That is not fair. And that is what we are calling that there’s a need of reform. Punitive interest rates, inflexible conditionalities, and delayed disinvestment undermine the very resilience the global system aims to promote. We need a fair financial order. That must be a global priority.

Therefore, as I conclude I want to say, Namibia’s vision is clear—a peaceful, inclusive, and resilient democracy that leverages its human capital, natural wealth, and geographical location to build/shape the prosperity at home, in the region, and across global partnership. We welcome engagement with institutions such as the foreign relations council as thought partners and the strategic allies in advancing a more equitable and global order rooted in cooperation, respect, and common purpose. And this is what, as Namibia, we believe in. We want a true partnership—a true partnership that is based on respect, that is based on trust—as that is the only way we will be able to talk about shared prosperity across the globe. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

FRAZER: Your Excellency, thank you for a really comprehensive statement about what your priorities are, how Namibia is positioned within the region, and what needs to take place globally to create the type of shared prosperity and good relations between countries, as you laid out, the community of nations. Now, you have been president for less than—less than a year, but you’ve been in the struggle for more than fifty-seven years. I would just like to start by asking you, how do you feel as the new head at the helm of your country, with all the authority, with all the privilege of leadership, and also the burden? And I am putting an emphasis on, how do you feel?

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Yeah. I like the word you use, “privilege,” because this is really not something that one can celebrate. It’s a privilege. It’s a responsibility. It’s a sign of trust the people of Namibia have placed on me. And how I feel is that I must do my best, together with the team that I have put together to assist me, in fulfilling the mandate which the people of Namibia has given to me. It is a responsibility. It has to be done. It’s not impossible, but definitely it’s not a walk in the park. The people wants quality services delivery. People wants tangible developmental programs. I must tell you that the past thirty-five years we have really done a lot, looking at where we were coming from, to address the injustice of Apartheid, which has really divided the people in accordance to their color. And there’s quite a lot of work that was to be done in the developing the structures that will be accommodative to all Namibians.

And that is the strong foundation on which we are building on. But the challenges we are facing, among them is unemployment among the youth. We have just received our statistics, our data, which gave the unemployment rate among the youth at 44.4 percent. That’s a task. And I believe, working now together Namibians as a team, and with all our partners—particularly the investors who are coming in—we will be able to move a step in order to address the unemployment, which is translated into poverty. And you know, if you are unemployed, you will not be able to feed yourself. You are not able to take care of yourself. So what I’m really feeling is that the people trust me. And I should do my best to live up to their trust.

But you remember, it’s a country you are talking about. And that’s why I say the team that I have put together, particularly in the Cabinet, those are the people that we need to speak and to act with one voice, that what we need is to perform what the people want us to do. I can tell you our campaign was guided under the theme “unity in diversity.” We have to maintain the unity that we have in Namibia. Natural resources beneficiation. We need value addition for youth empowerment. We need to empower our youth with education. We need to empower them economically. And then we need also to bring about sustainable development. So that is what I’m feeling, that I have a responsibility and I should do my best to perform that responsibility.

FRAZER: Thank you. It is a heavy responsibility. Thank you. In your inauguration you did mention that your top priority is unemployment. And when you look at Afrobarometer polls from—you know, from 1999 and on, unemployment has been the key, right? The population has said that the thing that they want the government to solve the most is the unemployment. But yet, your mining sector employs very few. And so that’s where the beneficiation comes, in the value addition. But I wonder—it’s going to be a huge challenge. Namibia is—gets—most of its trade is with South Africa, right? You’re trying to create that regional trade integration so that you could have a bigger market. And you talked about the global financial architecture which overshadows some of that and affects your commodity prices, et cetera.

So I guess I’m—and I understand what you’re saying about needing to have a team and that your team is really—it’s you at the helm setting the vision, holding accountable. But how does your team—you know, we all talk about these issues about unemployment. The whole continent because of the demographics are facing this issue of unemployment.

How do you—what is your first step to transformation beyond saying we have to do the agricultural sector, of course, as very importantly, human capacity building—you know, giving the young people an education, that opportunity. But the structural problems of the economy in terms of the trade link with South Africa, as you said, the inequality in terms of apartheid and how much Namibia’s economy is still integrated with South Africa, the land issues in terms of who actually owns most of the land. What’s your first step?

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Yeah. You are right that South Africa is our main trading partner and that is a geographical and historical reality; geographical in the sense that it’s our neighbor and historically, as you know, that Namibia was ruled under the apartheid South Africa.

But you have also to know that both Namibia and South Africa we are members of SACU, which is an arrangement between some of the countries in southern Africa. However, we also now are co-signatory to the Africa Free Continental Trade Area.

So with that we’ll be able to look for new markets that will be able to get into other sectors of the economy where the jobs can be created.

You talked about the land. Land is a very emotive issue in Namibia because, as you know from the history, the colonizers they have really taken up much of the land which they put in their hands.

But we have been very strategic from our independence. One of the thing that our founding president has really helped to stabilize the situation when we had a policy of national reconciliation and our constitution was also very protective up to now when it comes to issue of the land.

So that’s why initially we have to adopt a policy of willing seller, willing buyer, so that those who are having big land they can make it available for others to buy it. As the process was moving slow, then we have to change and we put some taxes on the land.

So we are really approaching it in a way that we are embracing one another as a country, as citizens, as Namibians. And then the job we are creating we are right. We are setting ourselves that in the next five years we would want to create at least 500,000 jobs and these jobs have to be created in different sectors of the economy and new sectors we discovered that we need also to develop them is, like, sports and the creative industry.

They have never been really a priority but we make them as part of our priorities. As we know that when you really invest in the creative industry and allow people to bring out their talent, in the process you create a lot of jobs and the same applies with sports. So we want also to monetize the sports so that it can take quite a number of our young people to be interested in it.

Yes, our economy is minor or best and that’s why we talk about value addition. What we are asking now is that the investors they should not just come to Namibia and then extract but we are asking them to put up the processing centers in Namibia so that in itself it will also help us to create jobs.

It’s another way of restructuring our economy. We no longer want to have an economy which is just based on extracting our minerals and ship them out but we are now saying we are structuring the economy so that we become the producer and the processor.

So that is really how we are planning in order to create the jobs that we want and for the people of Namibia to have the maximum benefit from our natural resources and not to be selfish to the international community.

FRAZER: Let me ask you about your energy mix. Clean energy, oil and gas. I think you guys discovered a lot of oil recently. Nuclear—is that part of the future there? You produce—I think, the second largest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan. How are you—how do you think about the energy mix that’s necessary to get the industrialization that you’re looking for?

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Yes, you are right. You cannot really industrialize without energy and we have already taken a decision to embark upon energy mix. Energy mix simply means the current conventional energy that we are using, the hydro energy, and then we talk about the clean energy.

We have all the—what it takes to make the clean energy or renewable energy. We have the sun. We have the wind. We have the wave. So this is what we are using, and now the most strong energy is the nuclear energy. So we have already made a clear policy announcement on that and we are now just developing it further so that it is part of our mix.

Without energy you cannot really industrialize and we have also set ourself that, moving forward, we would want to see that in each of our fourteen regions there must be an industry which will be determined as to what is the strength of each region in Namibia.

It is possible. We are not doing it for ourself as a country, Namibia, but we are thinking of the south in Africa. We are thinking of Africa. We are thinking of the world. Currently, we are exporting our beef and charcoal and the United States is coming here. We are also exporting our beef, fish, grapes to Europe. We are exporting that. We have also now the blueberries.

So with all this new product coming into our market definitely we’ll be able to create the jobs and we’ll be able to have the industries as appropriate.

FRAZER: Well, that brings me to—and I’m going to open it up to Q&A so that I’m not being selfish as well—but that brings me to the question of trade.

Again, I’m coming back to trade. Now you’re talking about global trade and there’s a lot of uncertainty right now with, you know, the tariffs coming from the United States and, you know, the way in which those tariffs are being used not only for economic reasons but also for geostrategic and political reasons. How does Namibia feel in this environment? Lesotho was hit pretty hard. South Africa, clearly, is being hit quite hard with 30 percent. Lesotho, I think, is back to 15 percent. I think Namibia might be 15 percent. How do you see this environment? And what can Namibia, and Namibia working with other countries, not just African countries, do to try to stabilize or at least have greater certainty in the international trading relationships?

NANDI-NDAITWAH: You see it with what we call global village. Any move economically in any part of the globe that is not positive, definitely one way or the other it has to have a negative impact into the whole global economy. You remember the world recession that happened years ago? I think it was just something happened in one country, it was related to estate, I believe. And because of that, we all just suffered. So the same is applying now. And you see, when things are happening there are always disadvantage, but there may also be an opportunity. And it is quite important, particularly Africa and the south, the Global South, to strategically position themselves for any eventuality, because you cannot predict what is coming. But for us, the Global South, we really need this time. We need one another so that we can survive in whatever situation that may arise. Namibia cannot do it alone. We work within SADC. We work within the African Union. And we work within the Global South institutions that are there.

FRAZER: Thank you. Thank you. Let me open it up. Yes. So let me read: At this time I would like to invite members, both in person and virtually, to join our conversation with their questions. A reminder that this meeting is on the record. I saw your hand first, sir. (Laughs.)

Q: Oh, sorry. Madam President, thank you very much for a very thoughtful presentation.

I had the opportunity to go to Namibia when Chief Kutako was still alive, years ago—

NANDI-NDAITWAH: When who was alive?

Q: Kutako

NANDI- NDAITWAH: Kutako?

Q: Yes.

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Wow. (Laughs.)

Q: And had a chance to meet him, which was a long time ago. And had—I’ve had the opportunity to go back fairly regularly.

I would be very interested in your thoughts—and you mentioned international collaboration—when you compare what the United States is doing and what China is doing. Because those two countries are obviously very active—or, one is very active. One is saying it’s very active, not quite the same level. But I wonder if you could compare China and the U.S., and what you have learned works best in terms of outside countries providing support for Namibia? Then it was southwest Africa, actually, so it’s been a long, long development period. And I want to congratulate you and the people of Namibia for what you’ve done, and particularly yourself with your new ideas. And I’d like to know where your new ideas lead, or which countries and what kind of policies would be the most effective for supporting what you’re doing.

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Thank you very much. First, I’m interested on the history you have about Namibia, when you even met Chief Kutako, whom I have not met physically. I have seen him in the photos. When I first came to the General Assembly, ’74, my interest was to go to the basement in order to look at his bust, which is there. So I think we have something to learn from you as a country, just to add to our history as how were your encounter with Chief Kutako, if you did.

Now, coming to your question—

Q: (Off mic.)

NANDI-NDAITWAH: (Laughs.) Yes, thank you very much. Now, you are talking about comparing—or, you are asking, how do we look at the United States and China? In my introduction, I told—I said, we are for partnership. And we want a partnership that is based on mutual respect, a partnership that is talking to our developmental priorities, and a partnership that is based on the trust that you can also predict as to what possible will be the next statement in that partnership. So that is really what we are looking at, at all times in our international relations, in our diplomatic interactions. We are looking about a true partnership.

FRAZER: Yes.

Q: Madam President, my name is Sarah Leah Whitson. I’m the executive director of DAWN.

I want to thank you for your leadership as a cofounder of The Hague Group, seeking to enforce and support the International Criminal Court’s prosecution of war crimes in Palestine. And also to congratulate the actions you’ve taken to uphold the General Assembly Resolution to stop aid to Israel in its illegal occupation and apartheid.

The question I have for you is what do we do in the face of this genocide, when we are perpetually blocked by American Security Council vetoes? I don’t know, is it four or five or six now? What does that mean for multilateralism, when the United States’ veto and continued weapons Israel is what allows the genocide to continue? How will you, as a coleader of The Hague Group, seek to protect the International Criminal Court, enforce the decisions of the International Court of Justice?

NANDI-NDAITWAH: OK. What we are experiencing is very much unprecedented. Looking at what is happening in Gaza, one really did not expect that at that rate of killing, that rate of the weapons that have been used—even hunger has now become a weapon of war. You do not expect that there could be any human conscious that can allow that to happen. Unfortunately, it is happening.

Africa for more than twenty years now, we have been in the negotiations where we are demanding the reform of the U.N. Security Council. We are not moving.

Before I came here today, this hour, I was attending a session in the General Assembly chamber where they were—they are discussing up to now the situation in Palestine. What is giving one hope that we are closer to find a solution to the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine is that those who were not in support of the plight of the people of Palestine, the number is increasing. Those of us who have been supporting from the beginning, now we are seeing that there is quite a number of countries who are joining in. Before I left, France just announced in the assembly that they now recognize the state of Palestine.

Now, with so many European countries coming onboard, with many other countries coming onboard, that is the pressure that we are looking at. We don’t believe as a country—we don’t believe that the war are a solution to any problem. You can fight—we fought our fight during the liberation struggle. Resolution 435 was adopted, but there was intransigency that took time. But at the end of the day, we sat down, we discussed, and then Namibia became a classic example how multilateralism can be successful even when there was a conflict. So we are really, really hoping and we are looking to a time when what is happening in Gaza, what is happening to the people of Palestine should be brought back onto the table to be discussed and a solution to be found. We believe that two-state solution between Palestine and Israel is the only key.

Now, you say the United States has been vetoing, continue to veto, is allowed in the—in the—according to the charter. But how useful now the U.N. is coming to support the maintenance of peace and survival of human being? But we hope through negotiations we will go back to the original idea of the United Nations, because currently we just don’t know as to what is happening in as far as the U.N. is in carrying out its mandate to the citizens of the world.

FRAZER: Thank you.

We’re going to—we’re going to go five minutes over, so we can probably get in two more questions if you make the questions brief.

Q: Thank you, Madam President, for being here. My name is Galuago Amdit (ph).

And I really want to congratulate you for, you know, having 57 percent, you know, women in your Cabinet. How—or, what could you—what have you learned from that? Because this is, you know, very rare occurring, not just in Africa but throughout the world. What can Namibia teach the world about that?

But you also mentioned that you want to see reforms at the U.N. Security Council. What kind of reforms does Namibia want to see at the Security Council, and how do those reforms relate to your vision of a multipolar world? Thank you.

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Yeah. The reform in the—if I have to start with that one, and then I will come with how I experience with 57 percent of women.

The reform in the Security Council, currently now the U.N. is celebrating eighty years of its existence. By the time the U.N. was formed, the membership was very low but today is coming closer to 200. But the institutions remains the same, particularly the Security Council. You still have fifteen members that include five permanent members, and then the others are a rotation. And you have a region like Africa—first, we don’t have a permanent seat in the Security Council; and even the rotation, the number is very—is just two, three in the Security Council. And you are talking about over fifty countries. And because of that, there is no really good balance in the Security Council. And that’s why we are saying let Africa be better represented in the Security Council. And if the veto will still be there, we must also have a veto power on the—from Africa. Then you have a better balance in the Security Council.

Now, coming to what we have learned as a Cabinet, which is 57 percent female, it’s a Cabinet was that was only formed from the 22^nd of March for this year. But I want to tell you that the collaboration, which you find in that Cabinet, you can see that the collaboration is very strong. In fact, I have to tell you that in the appointment, I did not—it was not a design. It was not a design. I was just looking at what skills I need, what capacity I need. And then you now look at broadly Namibians, particularly those so in parliament, and those you can pick because the constitution allows the president to appoint eight people into parliament who can also be in Cabinet. And when I put that team together—so the day I invited the Cabinet now to be sworn in, as I was sitting there and I was looking at the faces of people is when I realized what is happening. (Laughter.) So it just came like that, not really a design.

So like today here I have two ministers. Please, minister of international relations and trade is here. The minister for gender equality and child welfare. So the minority men, like the director general of national planning commission is here. (Laughs.) It’s also a Cabinet position. You can stand up, Director General. Don’t feel anything. So that is really how it really came. So that is really what happened, nothing really. And, you know, in the party, my party—the party which I’m a president—we have in our constitution the policy of fifty-fifty in all party structures. And to the extent that even our parliament, when we are putting—because our parliament is proportional representation, particularly the National Assembly. When we are selecting our candidate to the National Assembly, we have two lists—one for men, one for women. And then those who came higher, we mix them. When we take them to the parliament, it’s a zebra list. So that is really another thing that is just now in our mind to ensure that there is a gender balance in our structures. It does not apply to government, but it’s more on the party. But when it’s on your mind, you have also to be guided by that one way or the other.

FRAZER: I think this is a perfect place to end, which is on if you want more women look for more competence, because they’re there already. (Laughter.) Where’s the competence? So thank you. Thank you so very much, President Nandi-Ndaitwah, and to those of you who joined us for this meeting today. Please note that the video and transcript of this session will be posted on CFR’s website. And at this time, if our New York audience could please stay in the room, CFR staffers will open the doors momentarily. But, again, thank you, Madam President. This was outstanding. We really appreciate your leadership.

NANDI-NDAITWAH: Thank you for the opportunity. And let us continue to work together for international peace and stability.

(END)

This is an uncorrected transcript.