TURNING POINT | Namibia must stop waiting. Digital Trade will not wait for us.

Africa’s digital economy is no longer a future aspiration. It is today’s economic battleground.

When AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene recently declared that “Digital trade is not a distant dream in Africa. It is happening right now,” he was sending a message that African governments can no longer afford to ignore. His remarks came as Nigeria became the first State Party to secure parliamentary approval for the ratification of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, a landmark decision that places Africa’s largest economy firmly on the path towards a continent-wide digital marketplace.

Namibia should take notice.

For years, successive governments have spoken passionately about economic diversification, youth employment, industrialisation and becoming a knowledge-based economy. Yet too often these ambitions have remained trapped in policy documents while the world has continued moving at remarkable speed.

Digital trade presents Namibia with an opportunity that may not come again.

Unlike previous industrial revolutions that rewarded countries with large populations, massive manufacturing capacity or abundant natural resources, the digital economy rewards agility, innovation and sound regulation. It rewards governments that move first rather than governments that wait for certainty.