The government’s Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund has grown to N$450 million, the president has announced.
The fund was established to secure generational wealth, which has grown steadily from an initial seed capital of N$262 million in May 2022 to N$450 million in
January this year.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah revealed this during her maiden state of the nation address (Sona) in the National Assembly on Thursday.
Meanwhile, stock of international reserves rose to N$63 billion – a 17.2% year-on-year
increase in imports over 4.2 months.
“This is above the international benchmark of three months’ import coverage,” she said.
The fund is made up of two separate accounts – a liquid stabilisation account that will be used to safeguard the country against negative macroeconomic shocks, and a longer-term intergenerational savings account which will be used to ensure the distribution of wealth to all Namibians.
About 2.5% of the intergenerational fund will be invested in infrastructure projects with socio-economic benefits for future generations.
According to the central bank, the fund is structured into the short and long term, and has a balanced mandate where 70% of the assets bought are risky assets, such as equities, while the rest are fixed-income assets, real estate and private equity.
Namibia’s Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund has been benchmarked against the Norwegian Government Pension Global Fund.
Globally, sovereign wealth funds have been financed by trade surpluses from oil.
Meanwhile, Nandi-Ndaitwah said fiscal priorities for the 2025 to 2028 medium-term expenditure framework will focus on policy measures that will promote growth and reduce expenditure for macroeconomic stability through deficit reduction and debt stabilisation.
Government debt remained high at 61% of the country’s gross domestic product for the year under review.
“We are hopeful that the projected expansion of economic activity in 2025 and 2026 can lead to a reduction in government debt,” the president said.
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