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Several Ugandan investors are exploring opportunities to establish businesses in Namibia, following talks with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah aimed at strengthening economic ties between the two countries. The delegation is chiefly targeting the energy, agriculture, information and communication technology, youth empowerment and security sectors, with the goal of creating jobs and deepening intra-African investment.
The investors, led by former Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Henry Okello Oryem, met the president at State House to discuss investment opportunities and ways of expanding African led investment in Namibia. Speaking to journalists after the closed door meeting, Oryem said the delegation comprises investors who have already built successful businesses in Uganda and are now exploring what Namibia has to offer. “I am here with a delegation from Uganda to see how we could get strategic investors who are invested in Uganda and have been successful in Uganda, particularly African investors in the Pan-African spirit, to see the opportunities of investing in Namibia. We have strategic investors in the areas of energy, in the areas of agriculture, in the areas of youth empowerment and in ICT and security. They are all here,” said Oryem.
He said discussions with Nandi-Ndaitwah gave the delegation confidence that Namibia offers a favourable investment environment. “We think that it is a very good opportunity for this team to invest here in Namibia and create employment, pay taxes and let the benefits remain to the people of Namibia,” noted Oryem. He framed the visit as part of Uganda’s broader commitment to promoting African investment across the continent rather than relying solely on capital from outside Africa. “Our political ideology in Uganda is to, first and foremost, engage and do everything in the spirit of Pan-Africanism,” added Oryem.
In addition, Oryem noted his relationship with Nandi-Ndaitwah predates her presidency. “This is not my first time coming to Namibia. I have been close to the current president of Namibia since she became minister of foreign affairs,” explained Oryem. He further pointed to Uganda’s historical support for Namibia’s liberation struggle as a further motivation for the visit. Oryem said, “Our country contributed a lot to the freedom and the fight for Southern Africa, Namibia. We want to be part of the development and the transformation of Namibia.”
On regional trade, Oryem welcomed President Nandi-Ndaitwah’s continued emphasis on expanding trade among African countries through the African Continental Free Trade Area and said the East African Community and SADC should keep working together to remove barriers limiting trade and investment across the continent. He shared, “Those discussions have begun within SADC to see how there can be free movement of trade, opportunities and taxes within the spirit of intra-African trade.”
