Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2662 actions· ✨ 89 recent

Namibia's Cabinet at its 22nd meeting on 23 September 2025 approved a Nuclear Industry Strategy mandating uranium value-addition (conversion and fuel fabrication objectives), pre-feasibility studies for Small Modular Reactors, radioisotope production, and industrial irradiation facilities. The strategy establishes the Nuclear Institute of Namibia (NIN) to drive implementation and coordinates with the IAEA on the 19 infrastructure milestones required for nuclear-power-developing countries. Cabinet simultaneously approved amendments to the Atomic Energy and Radiation Protection Act (Act No. 5 of 2005) to create an independent nuclear regulatory authority, a four-stage reactor-licensing framework, and Namibia's first statutory provisions for radioactive waste management; oversight transfers from the Ministry of Mines and Energy to the National Planning Commission (Office of the President).

The National Upstream Petroleum Local Content Policy (NUPLCP), approved by Namibia's Cabinet in December 2024 and finalised by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in March 2025, requires all upstream petroleum operators to submit Local Content Plans detailing Namibian workforce hiring, skills transfer, and local supplier engagement commitments as a condition of exploration and production licences. The policy is the primary industrial-policy instrument governing Namibia's nascent offshore oil sector, targeting the Orange Basin deepwater blocks (PEL 39, PEL 56, PEL 83, PEL 85, PEL 90, PEL 91) where Shell, TotalEnergies, Galp, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and QatarEnergy have confirmed ~11+ billion barrels of recoverable resource with a 2027–2029 FID horizon and projected peak output of ~700 kbpd by 2030+. Enforcement is initially guidance-based with a dedicated monitoring framework under development; critics note weak enforcement infrastructure as the principal implementation risk.

At its 8th Decision-Making Meeting on 6 June 2023, Namibia's Cabinet approved a prohibition on the export of unprocessed critical minerals — specifically crushed lithium ore, cobalt, manganese, graphite, and rare earth elements — with only small quantities permitted for export upon written ministerial approval. The policy is operationalised through discretionary Ministerial authority under the Minerals (Prospecting and Mining) Act 33 of 1992, with no new statute enacted. The measure is designed to compel domestic beneficiation under Namibia's Mineral Beneficiation Strategy (MBS), capturing refining and processing margin that would otherwise accrue to consuming-country smelters.