Bureaucratic delays nearly cost Namibia a N$32 billion investment in strategic fuel infrastructure.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says she had to personally intervene to plead with Nigerian billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to keep the project alive after delays threatened to derail the investment.
The President has now placed the project directly under her supervision, saying that slow administrative systems are costing Namibia critical development opportunities.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah says she took direct control of the Dangote Namibia Tank Farm and Regional Pipeline Project after concerns that bureaucratic delays could drive the investor away.
The President's decision was also informed by previous experiences with serious investors who abandoned projects after years of frustration within the government.
One such case was a proposed shipyard plant in the Erongo Region, which she says collapsed after four years of delays.
"The investors were serious, and they wanted to move. After four years, they had to withdraw."
The president says she was determined not to lose the Dangote investment, which she considers critical to Namibia's energy security and regional economic development.
"I had to call Mr. Dangote and plead with him that, 'Please hold on. I will make it work."
Dr Nandi-Ndaitwah placed the project directly under the Office of the President, directing National Planning Commission Director General Kaire Mbuende to drive its implementation and keep her informed.
She cautioned that bureaucratic delays are undermining the country's development prospects.
"If we move slow, our people will continue to languish in poverty."
The project, located at Farm 58 outside Walvis Bay, includes a 600-million-litre fuel storage facility and a planned 1,700-kilometre regional pipeline network.
Dangote Industries President and Chief Executive Officer Aliko Dangote says the investment will establish Walvis Bay as a strategic energy gateway, linking Namibia to fuel markets across Southern Africa.
The pipeline is expected to extend towards Otjiwarongo, Rundu, Ghanzi and Francistown, with a wider distribution network serving Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"This is why the Walvis Bay terminal is more than a tank farm. It is a platform for energy security, regional commerce, and shared prosperity."
The project is expected to reduce fuel supply vulnerabilities owing to the disruptions in the global economy and has been declared a presidential project until completion.