Swapo parliamentarian Tobie Aupindi has proposed that instead of receiving dividends in cash, the government should get physical commodities such as gold or uranium.
Aupindi made this proposal during his contribution to the national budget in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“In a world of rampant inflation, why shouldn’t the government explore receiving its dividends in physical commodities for strategic commodity reserve and for trading. Because companies play around with profitability.
So, I wish to propose a paradigm shift in how we manage our national wealth,” he said.
Aupindi said for decades, mineral and natural resource wealth has been converted into fiat currency, which is subject to inflation and the influence of global central banks.
He suggested the commodity dividend model, where instead of the state receiving its dividends in Namibia or US dollars from mining and other natural resources, it should explore taking those dividends in physical commodities – be it gold, uranium, or the “new gold,” lithium.
This, he said, could provide a hedge against currency volatility and a physical backing for the national balance sheet.
“We stand today at a crossroads of history. The global economy of 2026 is no longer the predictable machine of the early 2000s. We are navigating a ‘polycrisis’ – where volatile commodity markets, the rapid ascent of green hydrogen, and the shifting weights of the Brics+ alliance have rewritten the rules of trade,” he added.
He said while the world looks to Namibia as the new energy frontier, the government must confront the question whether the Namibian citizen is a shareholder in this prosperity, or merely a spectator.
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