Namibia must make concerted efforts to move beyond its traditional role as a supplier of raw minerals and secure a meaningful position in the processing, technology and industrial value chains that are increasingly shaping the global critical-minerals economy.
This sentiment was emphasised by Industries, Mines and Energy Minister Modestus Amutse when addressing delegates in Stavanger, Norway, on Monday at the week-long Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) Summit.
Addressing delegates at the summit on Monday, Amutse argued that the global scramble to secure critical minerals should not simply lead to countries replacing one strategic dependency with another.
He added that Namibia could become a reliable partner for Europe and other markets seeking to diversify their critical-mineral supply chains but warned that such partnerships must deliver benefits beyond extraction and exports.
“Criticality is not simply a property of geology; it is a consequence of dependency,” Amutse said, adding, “A mineral becomes strategically critical when our economies, our energy systems, and increasingly our national security depend on it, but its supply, processing, or technology is concentrated in too few hands.”
The minister’s remarks come as countries and companies worldwide race to secure supplies of minerals essential to renewable energy, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, defence and other strategic industries.
For Namibia, however, the minister said the opportunity extends far beyond exploiting its geological endowment.
“We are a mineral-producing country with significant geological potential. But we are also a developing country still working to industrialise, create jobs, expand electricity access and improve living standards for our people,” he said.
That, Amutse argued, changes the central question facing Namibia.
“For us, the question is not simply: what minerals do we have beneath our soil?” Amutse said.
“The more important question is: how do those minerals create greater value above ground, in Namibian factories, in skills, in infrastructure, in businesses, and ultimately in Namibian households?”
The minister’s remarks highlight one of Namibia’s biggest economic challenges, namely converting resource wealth into broad-based industrial development rather than allowing the country’s mineral economy to remain dominated by the export of largely unprocessed commodities.
Amutse said Namibia understood Europe’s desire to diversify critical-mineral supply chains but maintained that diversification should be treated as a shared industrial undertaking.
“If the lesson from recent crises is that resilience must be deliberately built, then perhaps we must organise the alternative together, from exploration and mining, to processing, refining, clean energy, skills, technology and logistics,” he said.
This approach would require investment well beyond the mines themselves, including reliable and affordable electricity, transport infrastructure, specialised skills, technology transfer, and commercially viable processing facilities.
“For Namibia, partnership must therefore mean more than extraction and export,” Amutse said.
“It should mean shared value, shared capability and shared resilience.” The minister stressed that Namibia was not demanding that every mineral be processed domestically to its final product, acknowledging that economics must ultimately determine how far local beneficiation can go.
“We must do this pragmatically,” he said.
“Not every mineral can or should be processed to its final form in Namibia.” However, where commercial opportunities exist, the government wants investors and international partners to help lay the foundations required to capture more value locally.
“Wherever there is a sound economic case for greater value addition, we should build the energy, infrastructure, skills, technology and partnerships necessary to make it competitive,” Amutse said.
His message signals an important shift in how Namibia approaches foreign investment in its mining sector. While attracting capital remains essential, Namibia increasingly seeks investment structured around industrial development, skills and domestic economic participation.
Amutse said the ultimate opportunity was not merely to diversify the sources of the world’s critical minerals, but to shift where the economic value generated by those minerals is captured.
“Not merely to diversify where the world gets its critical minerals, but to diversify where the world creates value from them,” the minister said.
Namibia, he added, was ready not only to participate in the conversation about resilient critical-mineral supply chains but also to “build that solution.”
Amutse’s Norwegian trip kicked off on Monday with a networking event, bringing together senior industry leaders to discuss oil, gas and energy security. The event offers an opportunity for Namibia to benchmark international best practices, strengthen partnerships and engage with key players in the global energy sector.
The week-long programme features a range of activities to strengthen collaboration and share insights as Namibia advances its emerging oil and gas sector. Amutse is accompanied by senior ministerial officials and high-level representatives from the oil and gas and energy sectors.
–ebrandt@nepc.com.na
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