18/08/2026
This morning at the Namibia Oil and Gas Conference, IPPR Executive Director Graham Hopwood spoke about a central question facing the country: how do we ensure that oil and gas development delivers lasting benefits for Namibians?
Local content will be crucial. But the next phase of the debate must move beyond promises and percentages towards measurable and transparent local content. Who gets the contracts? Who ultimately owns the companies receiving them? How much value stays in Namibia? How many Namibians move into skilled and managerial positions? And, importantly, will this information be publicly available?
Local participation without transparency can actually increase corruption risk. Namibia’s Fishrot experience showed what can happen when valuable natural resources, government discretion and politically connected beneficiaries combine. We should build safeguards now, before petroleum revenues and procurement become enormous.
That means ensuring local content delivers broad participation rather than politically connected participation; requiring beneficial ownership transparency; publishing procurement commitments and performance; investing in genuine Namibian skills and productive capacity rather than simply local equity ownership; and being realistic about what Namibian businesses can supply now and what capabilities we can develop over time.
International oil companies also have an important role. They can set high standards now by publishing procurement opportunities and award criteria, identifying the beneficial owners of local partners, reporting their local-content performance, and developing Namibian suppliers.
Ultimately, success should not simply be measured by the percentage of petroleum expenditure captured locally. The real test is whether oil investment leaves Namibia with skills, competitive businesses, expertise and infrastructure that can thrive long after oil production declines.
We may have around five years before production. That gives Namibia an invaluable window to get the governance systems right. In that time it is crucial that the country joins the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to help safeguard our future.
Transparent, competitive and capability-based local content can strengthen both Namibia’s development prospects and its investment environment. Getting it wrong risks damaging both.
