Namibia to complete first mineral value-addition policy

GUANGZHOU-Namibia expects to complete its first Mineral Beneficiation Policy by the end of August this year, Mines and Energy Minister Modestus Amutse announced on Monday, saying the new policy will provide a legal framework to ensure the country’s minerals are processed locally before export in an effort to create jobs and increase economic value.

Amutse made the announcement in Guangzhou during President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s State Visit to China, where the Namibian delegation is meeting Chinese political leaders and touring advanced manufacturing companies to learn from China’s industrial development. The minister said the government has already established a committee of experts to draft the policy, describing it as a missing legal instrument needed to drive Namibia’s industrialisation agenda. “We aim to conclude the exercise by the end of August,” Amutse said. “We have already started the process. We have set up the committee comprising experts, and I think the exercise by the end of August might be completed.”

He said the policy will guide how much value should be added to each mineral before it leaves the country.