Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Nangolo Mbumba’s recent State Visit to Cuba has highlighted the existing mutually beneficial cooperation between Namibia and the Caribbean nation.
President Mbumba on Wednesday concluded his high-profile visit, during which he underlined the need for stronger economic ties and high-level scientific exchanges between the two countries.
President Mbumba visited Cuba at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
The purpose of the visit was to expand and deepen cooperation between Namibia and Cuba following the State Visit undertaken by President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez to Namibia in August 2023, where Namibia and Cuba signed a number of bilateral cooperation agreements.
During the visit, particularly during the official talks with President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President Mbumba expressed satisfaction with the decision to elevate the Cuba-Namibia Joint Working Group Meeting to an Intergovernmental Commission for Bilateral Cooperation, to be operationalized through a Memorandum of Understanding. Expressing satisfaction with cooperation in the fields of health, urban planning, and civil engineering, President Mbumba further underlined the need for stronger economic ties and high-level scientific exchanges between Namibia and Cuba.
While in Cuba, President Mbumba was honoured with the National Order of José Martí.
In his acceptance speech, President Mbumba thanked the Cuban government and President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez for the honour, dedicating it to the Namibian and Cuban people.
To cement economic exchanges in the fields of biotechnology research and manufacturing, President Mbumba visited the Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología (Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology). Applauding the Centre for its cutting-edge research and manufacturing capabilities, President Mbumba emphasized the urgency of initiating scientific exchanges in biotechnology research between the Centre and Namibian institutions.
Namibia is currently in the process of strengthening special economic development zones. In that vein, President Mbumba undertook a familiarization visit to the Zed Mariel Special Development Zone in the Artemisa area, which is geared toward attracting foreign direct investments into Cuba and spurring domestic investments.
Zed Mariel prides itself as a world-class production and logistics platform for the establishment of companies whose products and services can be traded in the domestic market or exported. Moreover, the zone also endeavours to update Cuba’s economic model. President Mbumba informed the leadership of Zed Mariel that Namibia could draw lessons from the model in its efforts to diversify the economy by attracting high-value manufacturing and developing logistics supply infrastructure.
President Nangolo Mbumba also undertook visits to the José Martí Memorial, where he laid a wreath, and was the guest of honour at the Centro Fidel Castro Ruz in Havana.
President Mbumba concluded his State Visit to the Republic of Cuba on December 18, 2024, in Santiago de Cuba, with the laying of a wreath at the tomb of Fidel Castro Ruz.
Namibia-Cuba Cooperation at a Glance
Health and Education
In the area of health, there are two agreements guiding bilateral cooperation between Namibia and Cuba, namely:
- “Specific Agreement for Academic Services” to train Namibian students
- “Specific Agreement for the Provision of Cuban Medical Services”
Cuba provides Namibia with health professionals and offers academic training to Namibians at Cuban institutions of higher learning.
A total of 93 Cuban health professionals are extending their services in various public health facilities across Namibia.
On July 31, 2023, a cohort of 173 Namibian medical students graduated from various universities in Cuba, whereas 49 dentistry students completed their studies in 2022 in Cuba. Another group of 5 Namibian medical students graduated in Cuba in July 2024 and have since returned to Namibia to practice their profession.
Following the agreement signed on April 26, 2022, between the Ministry of Works and Transport of Namibia and the Ministry of Higher Education of Cuba, Namibia sent the first cohort of 33 students to Cuba in October 2024 to study engineering, architecture, and quantity surveying.
A Framework Agreement of Cooperation between the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the University for Information Science of Cuba (UCI) for setting up and developing a Computer Science Area was signed on August 7, 2023, during a visit by a delegation from the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education to Namibia.
Construction
Cuba provides Namibia with 21 professionals in the construction sector to support development efforts in Namibia. The specialists are deployed in 12 of Namibia’s 14 regions (with the exception of Kavango West and Zambezi Region) under the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.
Early this year, Namibia and Cuba agreed to extend the deployment of Cuban specialists to 2030. The agreement would have expired in 2024.
Works and Transport
An agreement between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and the Government of the Republic of Cuba on the secondment of Cuban technical/professional staff by the Ministry of Construction of Cuba to the Ministry of Works and Transport of Namibia is in place.
A group of 20 Cuban construction specialists will be coming to Namibia soon to assist the line ministry with various capital projects involving railway engineering, road construction, architecture, quantity surveying, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, and many other technical disciplines.
Tourism and Environmental Management
The two countries have collaborated fruitfully in the areas of environment and tourism. Namibia has donated wild animals to Cuba to boost its biodiversity and tourism efforts.
Sports
Collaboration in sports has been deemed successful between the two countries. Cuba provides Namibia with high-level specialists in wrestling and boxing.
