Mining key to 500 000 jobs
Namibia's mining industry must create more jobs, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has said, adding that the sector will be central to achieving the government's target of creating 500,000 jobs under the sixth National Development Plan (NDP6).
"Mining is the number one economic enabler to achieving this target," she said at the official opening of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia's annual Expo and Conference at the Windhoek Showgrounds on Wednesday.
The event, the country's biggest mining gathering and fast becoming Namibia's leading annual expo, ends today.
The mining sector had already committed, through the 2025 Namibia Public-Private Forum (NamPPF), to creating more than 18,000 direct jobs and facilitating an estimated US$2.865 billion in new investment through mining and exploration projects, the president said, but "more can still be done".
"I implore the mining sector and other sectors of our economy to play their part by ensuring that sustainable jobs are created," Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
She said progress had been made in advancing several mining and infrastructure projects since the launch of the NamPPF, with more than 1,000 jobs created at Bannerman Energy's Etango Uranium Project and Deep Yellow's Tumas Uranium Project, and more jobs expected to follow.
"This progress is commendable," she said, but she also called on the mining industry to heed the government's call for value addition and local beneficiation "to ensure shared prosperity with the owners of the resources, the people".
Nandi-Ndaitwah also urged mining companies to empower their long-serving employees with skills, capital and opportunities, enabling them to diversify into other sectors and help drive job creation and economic diversification.
"As I always say, we are too few to be poor, and the high unemployment we experience must be a headache to all of us," she said.
Mining remains one of the biggest contributors to Namibia's economy. The industry contributed 14% to GDP and paid N$7.8 billion in taxes in 2025, a 37% increase from N$5.6 billion in 2024, as reported in May, the president said.
Earlier, Chamber of Mines of Namibia president George Botshiwe said chamber members and their contractors employ more than 20,000 permanent workers, of whom 98% are Namibians. Many thousands more earn a living from the sector through indirect jobs it supports, he said.
Direct mining employment generated N$1.5 billion in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax revenue for the government in 2025, he added.
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy Modestus Amutse said it was a proud occasion for him, as it was his first Mining Expo and Conference as line minister.
"Mining remains a very critical sector of Namibia's economy," he said, describing it as "a sunrise industry and not a sunset industry".
Echoing the president's call for greater mineral beneficiation, value addition and local participation, Amutse said: "We must look beyond raw material extraction." Greater local participation throughout the mining value chain was essential, he said.
"This objective will be advanced through the implementation of the Mineral Beneficiation Policy," he said, adding that it would be submitted to the President's Office by the end of the month.
