Chronicle Editor
NAMIBIA became the 10th member of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (Sadcc) following its independence in March 1990, after more than 70 years of South African occupation.
This was the culmination of a protracted war by the Namibian people and an international campaign of relentless pressure from Sadcc, the OAU and the United Nations.
The Founding President, Dr Samuel Shafiishuna Nujoma signed the instrument of accession to Sadcc on behalf of the Republic of Namibia on 24 August 1990 just prior to the 10th Sadcc Summit hosted by Botswana on 26 August 1990.
Sadcc transformed into the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) in 1992 when independent Namibia hosted the signing of the Sadc Treaty by 10 Member States at the 12th Sadc Summit in Windhoek on 17 August 1992 hosted by the country’s Founding President, Dr Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma and chaired by President Sir Quett Ketumile Joni Masire of Botswana.
Namibia is located on the southwestern coast of Africa. It is bordered by Angola to the north, Zambia to the northeast, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the southeast and south and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It ranges from arid in the north to desert on the coast and in the east. The landscape is spectacular, but the desert, mountains, canyons and savannas are perhaps better to see than to occupy.
Capital City: Windhoek
Area of Country: 825615 km²
Currency: Namibia Dollar (NAD) N$ 1 = 100 cents)
Head of Government: The Right Honourable Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila
Head of State: Head Of State And Government: President Nangolo Mbumba (interim), assisted by Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (interim)
Independence Day: 21 March 1990
Official Languages: Official language is English.
Other languages include: Oshiwambo dialects, Khoekhoe, RuKwangali, Herero, Tswana, Gciriku, Fwe, Kuhane, Mbukushu, Yeyi, Khoisan Naro, Xóõ, Kung-Ekoka and Kxoe
Population: 2 688 000
Natural Resources: Diamonds, Copper, Uranium, Gold, Silver, Lead, Tin, Lithium, Cadmium, Tungsten, Zinc, Salt, Hydropower, Fish
The only permanent rivers are the Kunene (Cunene), the Okavango (Cubango), the Mashi (Kwando) and the Zambezi on the northern border and the Orange on the southern. Only the northern frontier — and not all of it — is readily passable. The coastal Namib desert, the treacherous reefs and shoals of the coast (half aptly named the “Skeleton Coast”), the near deserts along the Orange River and the dry Kalahari region to the east explain the late conquest of Namibia and form a geographic frame around the country.
Roughly rectangular, Namibia has a long, narrow eastern extension (the Caprivi Strip) based on a German misconception that access to the Zambezi — despite the Victoria Falls — meant access to the Indian Ocean.
After 106 years of German and South African rule, Namibia became independent on 21 March, 1990, under a democratic multi-party constitution.
Climate
Namibia is divided from west to east into three main topographic zones: the coastal Namib desert, the Central Plateau and the Kalahari. The Namib is partly rocky and partly (in the central stretch) dunes. While having complex flora and fauna, it is a fragile and sparsely covered environment unsuitable for pastoral or agricultural activities. Diamonds (probably washed down from the Basotho highlands by the Orange River) and uranium are found at Oranjemund in the south and Arandis in the centre. The Namib, 50 to 80 miles wide over most of its length, is constricted in the north where the Kaokoveld, the western mountain scarp of the Central Plateau, abuts on the sea.
The Central Plateau, which varies in altitude from (975 to 1 980 metres), is the core of the agricultural life of Namibia. In the north, it abuts on the Kunene and Okavango river valleys and in the south on the Orange. Largely savanna and scrub, it is somewhat more wooded in parts of the north and is broken throughout by hills, mountains, ravines (including the massive Fish River Canyon) and salt pans (notably the Etosha Pan). Brandberg, also known as Mount Brand, is Namibia’s highest mountain and is located along the plateau’s western escarpment.
In the east, Namibia slopes gradually downward and the savanna merges into the Kalahari. In the north, hardpan and rock beneath the sand, in addition to more abundant river water and rainfall, make both herding and cultivation possible.
As noted earlier, only the border rivers are permanent. The Swakop and Kuiseb rivers rise on the plateau, descend the western escarpment and die out in the Namib (except in rare flood years, when they reach the sea at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, respectively). The Fish (Vis) River rises in the Central Plateau and (seasonally) flows south to the Orange. Various lesser rivers rise on the plateau and die out downstream in the Namib or Kalahari desert.
Namibia’s soils range from barren sand and rock to low-quality sand-dominated to relatively fertile soils. The best soils are in the north, in the Otavi Mountains, in parts of the central and southern portions of the plateau and in the Caprivi Strip. Water — not soil fertility — is the primary constraint on agriculture. Both in the densely populated Ovambo region in the north and in the commercial farming areas, overuse of land has reduced tree and bush cover, compacted soils, led to serious erosion and lowered the water table.
Namibia is located on the southern margin of the tropics and has distinct seasons. The coast is cooled by the Benguela Current (which carries with it the country’s rich and recovering fish stocks) and averages less than 50 millimetres of rainfall annually. The Central Plateau and the Kalahari have wide diurnal temperature ranges, more than 30 degrees Celsius on summer days and less than 10 degrees Celsius in winter. Rainfall is highly variable and multi-year droughts are common. In the north and adjacent to mountains, groundwater is as important as — but only slightly less variable than — rainfall. Kalahari rainfall — in its Namibian portion — is not radically different from that of the plateau, but, except in the northern Karstveld and isolated artesian areas, groundwater is less available.
Namibia is richly endowed with game, albeit poaching has seriously diminished it in parts of the north. Throughout the ranching zone, game (notably antelope and giraffes) co-exists with cattle and sheep. The Etosha Pan in the north is a major game area and tourist attraction.
Namibia has established several parks and reserves to celebrate and protect its rich plant and animal life. These include Etosha National Park, Skeleton Coast Park, Namib Naukluft Park and Sperrgebiet National Park.
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Less than one percent of the country is estimated to be arable, although almost two-thirds is suitable for pastoralism. Wasteland (mountain and desert) and bush or wooded savanna, plus a small forest zone, constitute the remainder.
People
About 85 percent of Namibians are black, five percent of European ancestry, and 10 percent, in South African terminology, coloured (Cape Coloured, Nama, and Rehobother). Of the black majority, about two-thirds are Ovambo, with the Kavango, the Herero, the Damara, and the Caprivian peoples following in population size. Other ethnic groups have much smaller populations. Afrikaners and Germans constitute two-thirds and one-fifth of the European population, respectively. Most ethnic Europeans are Namibian citizens, although some have retained South African citizenship.
English is the national language, although it is the home language of only about three percent of the population. Ovambo languages are spoken by more than 80 percent of the population, followed by Nama-Damara with about six percent. Kavango and Caprivian languages and Herero, as well as Afrikaans, constitute about four percent of home languages.
Many Namibians speak two or more indigenous languages and at least a little of two of the three European languages (English, Afrikaans, German) in common use.
Some 80 to 90 percent of the population at least formally adheres to a Christian confession. About one-half of the population is Protestant, most of whom are Lutheran. Roman Catholics constitute almost one-fifth of the population. Smaller Christian denominations include Dutch Reformed, Anglican, African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian groups. A small segment of the population adheres to traditional beliefs.
Economy
Commercial farming is concentrated on the production of Karakul sheep and beef for export. It has been damaged by drought and drops in world prices, but in the early 1990s Karakul prices, a commitment by the European Community (EC) to purchase beef, and relatively good weather improved short-term prospects. Crop raising is a distinctly secondary activity on commercial farms, but it is almost coequal with livestock production on small African family farms (many of which operate at sub-subsistence level and are headed by women) in the north. Rural development efforts aimed at small farmers and a 1991 land conference to explore land policy point to agricultural improvements in favour of black (and female) farmers, but major results are expected only in the medium term. The 11 percent of Gross Domestic Product produced by the agricultural sector contrasts sharply with the 35 percent of Namibians dependent on it for employment.
Fishing is limited by depleted stocks. Better conservation controls and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone have improved its outlook. By 1990, it accounted for more than three percent of the GDP.
Mining is central to the economy: it accounts for just under 30 percent of the GDP, although less than 10 percent of the labour force is employed in this sector. Diamonds, uranium oxide, and base metals dominate mining; however, gold and natural gas are increasingly significant, and oil production (offshore and in the Etosha basin) is potentially so. Namibia supplies about 30 percent of the world diamond output, but the value of this contribution varies with world prices. Uranium production is also important, but the key Tsumeb/Matchless mine complex near Windhoek faces problems in reaching new ore bodies, and new mines are needed to avert loss of output in the medium term. Other important minerals include tin, lithium, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, tungsten, and silver. While the offshore Kudo natural gas field is proven, development will be costly. The appropriate uses appear to be domestic ammonia-urea production or sale to South Africa.
Manufacturing produces about five percent of the GDP. It is dominated by meat and fish processing, brewing, and light engineering work (especially metal fabrication). Strategic growth areas include light engineering, building materials, and salt- and natural-gas-based chemical processing, plus import substitution and consumer goods.
Tourism began to expand in the 1990s, and, given the beauty and diversity of the landscape—especially on the coast, at Etosha, and in the Fish River Canyon—its development may be significant.
Two commercial banks, First National Bank of Southern Africa and Standard Bank Namibia (subsidiaries of South African parent companies), account for most banking business. Reorganisation of land, housing, and development banks was begun after independence. The Central Bank of Namibia launched an independent currency, the Namibian dollar, to replace the South African rand in the mid-1990s.
Exports constitute up to 90 percent of the goods produced. Diamonds; uranium oxide; meats, furs, and other animal products; base metals; fish; and gold are shipped to South Africa, other neighbouring countries, and western Europe.
Imports originate predominantly in South Africa as a result of long-standing business links, proximity, and, until 1992, Namibia’s membership in the Southern African Customs Union. Major imports include food, consumer goods, fuel, and capital goods.
Transport infrastructure is reasonably good, with main routes through the Caprivi Strip (and thence to Zambia and Zimbabwe) and to Botswana being upgraded. Air Namibia flies to national and regional destinations and to Europe. There is an international airport at Windhoek. A handful of large road-transport companies compete with larger numbers of small haulers.
Politics
Namibia is a republic. The country’s constitution, which took effect at independence in 1990 and has since been amended, is highly rights-conscious and aimed at achieving a durable separation of powers. Executive power is vested in the president, who serves as head of state and government and is directly elected to a five-year term, the vice president, who is appointed by the president, and the cabinet, which consists of the prime minister and other ministers who are also appointed by the president.
Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Parliament. The National Assembly is constituted to initiate and pass legislation. It consists of 96 members who are directly elected to five-year terms under universal adult suffrage and up to eight members who are appointed by the president and do not have voting rights. The second house, the National Council, serves in an advisory capacity on legislative matters and comprises three representatives from each of Namibia’s 14 administrative regions. National Council members are elected by Regional Councils and serve six-year terms.
The judicial system comprises the Supreme Court, the High Court, and lower courts.
Internationally, Namibia hastened to join regional organisations (eg, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference and the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union) as well as global bodies (the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the EC Lomé Conventions, and the Commonwealth). Its relations with South Africa have been pragmatic and surprisingly non-contentious (on the South African side as well).
SWAPO (nominally South West Africa People’s Organization, although only the acronym has been used since 1980) was founded as the Ovamboland People’s Organization in 1958; it achieved a national following as SWAPO in 1960. In 1959 SWANU (South West Africa National Union) was formed, largely by Herero intellectuals. Within a decade, SWAPO had become the dominant party and had grown beyond its Ovambo roots. The presence of Ovambo throughout the nation due to contract labour was used to forge a national communication system and mobilising capacity.
The parties had been formed because petitioning seemed ineffective. The forced removal (with violence and deaths) of Black Namibians from the Old Location in Windhoek to the outlying township of Katatura (sometimes translated as “The Place We Do Want to Be”) was perhaps the key catalytic event. Until 1966 the parties sought — in the face of increasing repression—to press for redress of grievances from South Africa and via the United Nations. Indeed, until the 1970s the armed struggle, then largely across the border from Zambia, was only a minor nuisance to South Africa.
From 1969 SWAPO had operated along almost all of the northern border — an operation that was easier after Angolan independence in 1975 — and in the north-central farming areas around Grootfontein. Although set back by an internal leadership crisis and division among fighting cadres in 1976, the armed struggle had become militarily damaging and economically costly to South Africa by the end of the 1970s.
From 1977 through 1988, the economy of Namibia stagnated overall and fell by more than three percent per year per capita. Five factors influenced this: six years of drought, decline in fishing yields (because of overfishing), serious worsening of import-export price ratios, the slow growth and mismanagement of the South African economy, and the impact of the war on the budget and on both domestic and foreign investor confidence. For white residents, real incomes (except in ranching) stagnated or rose slowly; for blacks, they rose for perhaps one-sixth of households in wage employment with government or large enterprises and declined rapidly for others, especially for residents of the northern “operational area” (war zone).
For South Africa, Namibia turned from an economic asset to a millstone (with a war bill by the late 1980s on the order of $1 billion a year — comparable to Namibia’s gross domestic product). Capital stock was run down, and output of all major products — beef, karakul, fish, base metals, uranium oxide, and diamonds — fell.
On the domestic side a long series of South African attempts to build up pro-South African parties with substantial black support failed even when trade unions were legalised, wages raised, and petty apartheid laws (including abolition of the contract labour and residence restrictions) relaxed. Indeed, after the failure of the alliance between moderate black Bishop Abel Muzorewa and white Prime Minister Ian Smith in the Zimbabwe independence elections, South Africa’s internal political manoeuvres looked increasingly desperate and lacking in conviction.
The election of 1989, held under the auspices of the UN, gave SWAPO 57 percent of the vote and 60 percent of the seats. Sam Nujoma, the longtime leader of SWAPO, became president. With two-thirds majorities needed to draft and adopt a constitution, some measure of reconciliation was necessary to avoid deadlock. In fact, SWAPO and the business community — as well as many settlers — wanted a climate of national reconciliation in order to achieve a relatively peaceful initial independence period.
As a result, a constitution emphasising human, civil, and property rights was adopted unanimously by the end of 1990, and reconciliation with settlers and (to a degree) with South Africa became the dominant mood.
On 21 March, 1990, the South African flag was lowered and Namibia’s raised at the National Stadium; Namibia subsequently joined the Commonwealth, the UN, and the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union). Diplomatic relations were established with many countries. The Namibian Defense Force — which included members of PLAN as well as the former South West African Territory Force — was created with the assistance of British military advisers.
South Africa agreed to a transition to Namibian sovereignty over Walvis Bay, which was effected in 1994. It also agreed to a revised boundary along the Orange River, giving Namibia riparian rights; the earlier border had been placed on the north bank and thus left Namibia without water rights. Namibia remained a member of the Southern African Customs Union.
The political climate was calm. The main opposition party, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance, held almost one-third of the seats in the legislature but was neither particularly constructive nor totally obstructive. In the 1994 national elections, SWAPO consolidated its hold on power, surpassing the two-thirds majority needed to revise the constitution — which it did in 1998, passing an amendment that allowed President Nujoma to run for a third term.
SWAPO maintained its hold on power in the country’s 1999 elections.
The new millennium saw the democratic transfer of power in the country. After leading Namibia since the country gained independence, Nujoma stepped down from office at the end of his third term. Fellow SWAPO member Hifikepunye Pohamba prevailed in the November 2004 presidential elections and was inaugurated the next year. In the presidential and parliamentary elections of November 2009, Pohamba was reelected, and SWAPO maintained its hold on the majority of parliamentary seats.
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on 28 November, 2014. Prime Minister Hage Geingob was SWAPO’s presidential candidate. Geingob won easily, with 86.73 percent of the vote, and SWAPO won an overwhelming majority in the parliamentary vote. Geingob was inaugurated on March 21, 2015, which was Namibia’s 25th anniversary of independence. Geingob was reelected in the November 27, 2019, presidential election, taking 56,3 percent of the vote—enough to avoid a runoff election but a much smaller total than he had won in 2014. Likewise, SWAPO won a majority of the parliamentary vote but saw its share of seats fall from the 2014 elections. Geingob and SWAPO’s support appeared to be affected by the economic recession the country was mired in, as well as by a corruption scandal involving two cabinet ministers.
In January 2024, the government announced that Geingob had been diagnosed with cancer and would undergo treatment. However, Geingob died on February 4. He was succeeded by Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba, who was sworn in as president later that day. – Britannica.com/ https://www.sadc.int
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