WINDHOEK, Feb. 19 — A report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) presented on Thursday has identified 353 products that Namibia could develop to diversify its economy and reduce reliance on raw commodity exports.
The findings are contained in the Rapid Assessment on Namibia‘s Productive Capacities and Economic Diversification, which identifies products in 23 sectors, with 60 directly linked to the energy transition and mineral value chains.
According to the report, under a global export scenario, 200 of the identified products across nine sectors represent an estimated 811 million U.S. dollars in market opportunities, while import substitution could add a further 117 million dollars by producing goods currently sourced from abroad.
Speaking at the launch in Windhoek, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said the report focuses on structural transformation, meaning changing what a country produces in order to generate more jobs, skills, and long-term prosperity.
She noted that Namibia, like many commodity-dependent countries, faces the long-standing challenge of moving beyond exporting raw materials.
With the world undergoing a major energy transition, demand for critical minerals such as lithium, copper, manganese, graphite, and rare earth elements is rising rapidly, she said.
The report estimates that developing a priority subset of the identified products could generate around 26,000 jobs across the economy.
Examples highlighted in the study include copper-based electrical components such as switchgear, wiring, and conductors, which could build on Namibia‘s existing smelting capacity (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
