It is encouraging that president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah understands the importance of the Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund – an institution set up to save money from Namibia’s natural resource wealth for future generations.
She has told the parliament the legislation has reached an advanced stage and would be tabled soon.
“You and I may not benefit from that fund unless some terrible disaster happens,” she said. “It is a sovereign fund that can be opened 50 or 100 years from now when the country is in serious crisis.”
The president cautioned that it should not be used as a slush fund. “When you feel you want to build a road here, you go and withdraw. You want to build a school here, you go and withdraw. That’s not how they work,” she said.
The president should enforce the implementation of the fund to ensure that revenue from fishing, mining and other natural resources starts flowing immediately.
That way, the wealth generated by these industries would genuinely benefit future generations of Namibians.
As a well-known African proverb says: “Treat the earth well. It was not inherited from your parents. It was borrowed from your children.”
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