WINDHOEK, June 10 — Namibian Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare on Wednesday urged the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) to increase investments in domestic development projects to support economic growth and strengthen public confidence in the country’s largest pension fund.
Speaking at the launch of the GIPF 2026-2029 Strategic Plan in Windhoek, Ngurare said the fund should play a greater role in advancing Namibia’s national development agenda by investing in key sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, housing, food security and manufacturing.
“As a responsible institutional investor, GIPF must work closely with its asset managers to allocate capital to sustainable development initiatives that generate measurable social and environmental outcomes,” he said.
Ngurare said Namibia’s Sixth National Development Plan requires an estimated 506.7 billion Namibian dollars (about 31 billion U.S. dollars) to implement projects aimed at creating wealth, generating employment and reducing inequality by 2030.
He said emerging sectors, including oil and gas, green hydrogen and mining, offer opportunities for strategic investments that can support both pension fund growth and broader socio-economic development.
The prime minister also urged GIPF to prioritize visible local investments, including social infrastructure such as hospitals and facilities in underserved regions, saying public servants who contribute to the fund should be able to see and benefit from its investments.
According to Ngurare, GIPF has made significant contributions to national development over the past five years, including paying more than 30 billion Namibian dollars in benefits, committing 17.2 billion Namibian dollars to infrastructure projects and investing 2.7 billion Namibian dollars in renewable energy initiatives.
The fund also contributed to the construction of more than 8,000 houses, serviced over 5,000 residential plots and helped create about 10,900 jobs during the period, he said.
GIPF is Namibia’s largest pension fund and a major institutional investor managing retirement assets for public sector employees. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
