Staff Reporter
THE Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, Dr Tobie Ocean Aupindi, has advocated for greater Namibian representation in management structures, as well as increased participation by local entrepreneurs and professionals in the mining, oil, gas and energy industries.
“Namibians must not remain spectators in their own economy. The wealth beneath our soil belongs first and foremost to the people of Namibia. Therefore, the people of Namibia must participate meaningfully in the extraction, management, and economic benefits generated by these resources,” he said.
CALLING FOR GREATER LOCAL PARTICIPATION: Scenes from the Capacity Building Workshop with stakeholders for the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources. Photo: Parliament of Namibia.
Aupindi made these remarks during the Capacity Building Workshop with stakeholders for the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, held recently in Swakopmund. He stressed the need for Namibia to rethink how it benefits from its natural resources.
“Rather than relying exclusively on cash dividends from mining operations, I suggested that the government should also receive dividends in physical commodities such as gold, uranium, or lithium. This proposal is rooted in the idea of building strategic national commodity reserves. Just as some countries maintain strategic oil reserves or gold reserves to strengthen their economies, Namibia could use its own resources to build long-term financial security,” he said.
According to Aupindi, such reserves could shield the country from inflation, global market instability, currency fluctuations and future economic shocks. He further urged policymakers to prioritise long-term national sovereignty and intergenerational wealth preservation over short-term financial gains.
“The other day I read that the Bank of Namibia, has signed an agreement with a mining company to buy gold to build a reserves. While I comment that idea, and I would urge them to keep going, but I can say that government, has royalty interest and a shareholding interest in that same license, so government must take its royalty in physical commodity. With these proposal, I am challenging all of us to think beyond short-term revenues and toward long-term national sovereignty and intergenerational wealth preservation,” Aupindi added.
