Alweendo urges Namibia to prepare financial sector for oil and gas economy

Staff Writer

Former minister of mines and energy, Tom Alweendo has called on Namibia’s financial sector to prepare for the country’s emerging oil and gas industry, warning that discoveries alone will not translate into economic prosperity without strong institutions, financing capacity and local participation.

Speaking at a Bank of Namibia seminar on preparing the financial sector for a sustainable oil and gas economy, Alweendo said Namibia had entered a new phase following major offshore oil discoveries, but cautioned that “a discovery is not yet development” and “a resource is not yet prosperity”.