The Namibian Institute Of Public Administration And Management (Nipam) has announced plans to introduce structured three- to five-day courses to teach civil servants how to use artificial intelligence (AI).
The initiative, unveiled during an AI executive leadership seminar in Windhoek, signals an intentional push to modernise the country’s bureaucratic infrastructure.
However, rather than implementing a sweeping, agency-wide deployment, Nipam is opting for a top-down strategy targeting executive directors, chief executives and senior management before introducing the tools to frontline operational staff.
By educating management first, Nipam aims to clear up what AI can achieve, identify compliance risks and establish ethical boundaries before any new software is integrated into daily workflows.
“AI is no longer a concept of the future,” Nipam executive director Helordt Murangi says. “It is already shaping how institutions operate, how decisions are made, how services are delivered and how communication and information are managed across the world.”
The move comes at a time when regional peers are moving rapidly to draft national AI policies and establish regulatory frameworks.
For Namibia, the risk of lagging behind carries tangible economic and administrative consequences, from sluggish public service delivery to systemic inefficiencies.
Nipam director of strategy and corporate services Sankwasa Mubita closed the seminar with an assessment of the state’s current digital posture, urging officials to look past bureaucratic inertia.
“Many countries have already embraced AI and established policies to regulate its use,” Mubita warned. “The easiest thing to do is to do nothing, but that is also the quickest way for a nation to fall behind. The country needs us to act, because if we do nothing, we achieve nothing.”
While the strategy sounds promising on paper, a short course is rarely a magic fix for deep-seated institutional challenges. Turning a brief seminar into real, lasting administrative capability will require ongoing technical support, upgraded IT infrastructure across various ministries and a clear national policy on data sovereignty and security.
As Nipam finalises the curriculum, the broader public sector will be watching to see if this leadership-first strategy can successfully filter down to yield faster, more transparent services for the average Namibian citizen.
