By Semafor Africa
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Namibia’s president warned foreign investors that access to the country’s critical minerals depended on building processing plants in the country, not just extracting and exporting.
Uranium mining town in Arandis, Namibia.
“When you are coming to Namibia, you don’t want to be a briefcase business,” President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told Semafor at an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The message reflects a recurring theme among African leaders last week as governments seek to turn the global competition for critical minerals into investment, industrialization, and jobs at home.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said she will write into law rules requiring foreign investors to partner with local businesses, a goal Namibia has pursued unsuccessfully for 15 years. The country already requires 15% local ownership for new mining licenses, which officials floated raising to 51% last year.
Namibia — a major uranium producer, which also has deposits of lithium, rare earths, copper, and graphite — is betting its mineral wealth and stability give it leverage.
The pressure is also domestic, with unemployment close to 40%: Nandi-Ndaitwah warned, “we are sitting on a time bomb.”