Oil and gas has potential to generate N$7.7 billion annually – Ithete

Deputy prime minister and minister of industries, mines and energy Natangwe Ithete says the recent discoveries of oil and gas could generate up to N$7.7 billion per year.

He says this is possible through government revenue through royalties and taxes, which could be used to create job opportunities, build schools and transform Namibia’s renewable energy future.

He said this at the official opening of the 2025 Namibia Oil and Gas conference on Tuesday.

Ithete said the discovery represents a generational opportunity to empower communities and establish Namibia and southern Africa as one of the most promising energy frontiers on the continent.

“If managed well, these resources can be a key enabler for industrialisation, infrastructure growth, skills development and poverty eradication in the region,” he said.

According to him, oil and gas could bring Namibia wealth, with estimates suggesting 11 billion barrels of oil and 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas.

“We must take a stand to manage and guide our offshore discovery jealously and be a model country that translates oil and gas discovery into a catalyst for peace, unity and prosperity,” he said.

The minister said the discoveries demand collective action, long-term vision and courage from every Namibian and all southern African regions to make it work.

“Development is not a one-man show, it is rather multifaced and requires disciples, thus let us foster working relationships, collective strategic plans of actions in the oil and gas industries,” Ithete said.

He called on the nation to unite, stating that nations with no unity become poorer and economies get destroyed, institutions collapse, and the environment is harmed.

“Namibia will not follow that path. I am calling on unity of purpose because we have seen it before, nations rich in oil and gas become poorer in spirit, divided in society and become victims of their own resources,” he said.

Ithete urged Namibians and leaders to participate in the oil and gas sector, oversee it and protect it with integrity.

“This is your oil, your gas, your future. Let us govern with foresight and integrity. Oil money can vanish in a decade, but nation building lasts forever,” he said.

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