Opinion – Petroleum economics, converting resource ownership into national wealth

Every new petroleum producer faces the same fundamental truth: sovereign ownership of a resource does not automatically generate national wealth.

What converts a geological discovery into fiscal revenue, public services and generational savings is the design of the petroleum fiscal regime and getting that design right is one of the most consequential economic decisions Namibia will make.

With the Orange Basin discoveries placing Namibia among Africa’s most closely watched emerging producers, that conversation can no longer wait.

Under Article 100 of the Namibian Constitution and the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, all petroleum resources vest in the State.

The oil beneath our seabed belongs to Namibians, not to the companies that discovered it.