President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has requested technical support from Norway’s government in developing the country’s oil and gas sectors.
The president announced this during her state of the nation address yesterday afternoon.
“At my request, the government of Norway has agreed to provide us with technical support,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
The president also defended her decision to move the supervision of the oil and gas sector under the Presidency. She repeated previous statements, citing that the move is intended to prevent the resource curse.
Norway is internationally recognised as a leader in accountability and the effective use of oil revenue. The country has established a sovereign wealth fund that reinvests oil and gas revenue for the benefit of future generations.
Nandi-Ndaitwah yesterday said her administration is at the final stages of drafting legislation for Namibia’s own sovereign wealth fund – the Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund.
“Enabling legislation for the Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund, designed to benefit future generations, is at an advanced stage and will be tabled in the parliament soon,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah called on the parliament to pass the petroleum amendment bill, which will approve her control over upstream oil and gas.
“I am calling on the parliament to join me in this effort. The first step is to pass the petroleum amendment bill with urgency, as one year has already been lost,” she said.
She said the oil unit under her presidency is willing to engage with relevant parliamentary committees to answer any outstanding questions members of parliament may have.
Affirmative Repositioning parliamentarian Job Amupanda yesterday said the appointment of a minister in the Office of the President would alleviate some concerns he has about the new Petroleum Act.
“The appointment solved 30% of our concerns with the petroleum issue,” he said during yesterday’s question-and-answer session.
He said he hoped the parliament and the Presidency would be able to solve the remaining 70% of issues.
Norwegian honorary consulate to Namibia Klaus Endresen yesterday confirmed to The Namibian that the president has requested technical advice from his government.
“I can confirm that she has requested technical advice. I believe it is still in the works, but the Norwegian government is positive towards Namibia,” he said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah yesterday said one of the delegated Norwegian officers who was part of the team that drafted the Namibia Petroleum Act of 1992 visited Namibia for a week last month and is currently in contact with the oil unit.
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