Rössing Uranium Board Chairperson Steve Galloway has warned that Namibia could face serious challenges if it fails to effectively manage its natural resources for the nation's benefit.
Galloway made this remark following a question posed by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah during her first official visit to the Rössing Uranium Mine.
The president inquired about Namibia's shareholding in the uranium mine – one of the country's key natural resource assets.
"If you get the new market, the uranium share, will it have a direct impact in Rössing or cause that one to become national now?"
In response, Galloway explained that the Namibian government currently owns only 3.4 percent of shares in Rössing Uranium.
However, it maintains 50.1 percent voting rights, allowing the government to participate in high-level strategic decision-making within the company.
He highlighted that South Africa holds over 10 percent of shares, a stake that dates back to the pre-independence era.
At one point, South Africa had considered selling its shares but ultimately decided against it.
Galloway noted that Namibia passed on an opportunity to increase its stake by purchasing shares from South Africa.
The matter, he suggests, involves complex political considerations.
"So I really do think from a commercial point of view, while I was a banker, we tried really hard to finance the South African stake and the uranium stake in the Namibian government's hands to indeed get up because we all felt that the government should have a more significant part of these resources. I think we have that opportunity again now at a political level between the two governments to actually come to an arrangement that would allow the government to purchase those shares. The banks will find it at the moment to see that uranium products are really doing well. And I think the alignment between commercial and political events could bring us to a solution where the Namibian government really becomes a 30 percent shareholder here and is part of the mining industry."