It’s time to build one house for youth in energy and mining
OPEN LETTER
To the leaders of Namibia’s energy and mining sectors, public and private institutions, development partners, and the Namibian youth,
There comes a time in the history of a nation when silence becomes betrayal – and today, our silence in isolating youth representation in energy from the broader mining sector is a betrayal of potential, of unity and of Namibia’s economic future.
We stand at the threshold of the most transformative decade in Namibia’s modern economy. Energy projects, green hydrogen ambitions, oil and gas discoveries – they flood headlines and investment pipelines. Yet, while the talk of the town fills conference rooms and business deals are being signed, too many Namibian youth remain on the outside, looking in. Worse still, those in mining – the very backbone of our natural resources sector, historically joined with energy under one ministry for a reason – are barely even at the conversation table.
I propose, with urgency and clarity, that the Namibia Youth Energy Forum (NYEF) must evolve immediately into the Namibia Youth Energy & Mining Forum – a single, inclusive and strategic platform designed not only to represent youth interests in energy but also to embrace mining as a co-equal pillar of opportunity, policy engagement, capacity building and mentorship.
Energy and mining are not separate conversations. One fuels the other. One empowers the other. Our mineral wealth must work hand in hand with our energy revolution – and our youth must be equally empowered in both.
This is not a restructuring. It is a reckoning.
We must broaden our scope, and with it, our ambition:
Educate young people about every mineral, every megawatt, and every opportunity within their reach.
Mentor them with industry leaders, technocrats and those whose boots have walked the mines and whose hands have shaped Namibia’s energy story.
Equip them with the tools to turn resources into businesses, to innovate, to govern and to lead.
Create equitable opportunities – not just for a few well-positioned youth in urban centres, but for every young person in every village, town and settlement, across every tribe, gender and region.
If we fail to integrate this now, we risk repeating the mistakes that other sectors have made – producing more graduates than jobs, generating investment without inclusion, and building industries without a clear succession pipeline of empowered young Namibians ready to take ownership of their resources.
We must be the generation that changes the narrative of the African child – not as a passive observer of wealth, but as a strategic architect of it.
The Namibia Youth Energy & Mining Forum will be that house. A house for all.
A house that not only debates the deals but also prepares young people to make them.
A house that not only chases opportunities but also creates them.
A house that doesn’t knock on closed doors but builds new ones.
This is our moment. This is our mandate. And history will remember whether we rose to it.
To the youth reading this – you are no longer invisible.
To the offices reading this – Let’s build it. Together.
*Kovimariva Samuel Mungunda is an emerging investment and energy analyst with a career focus on finance, energy markets and sustainable development.
There comes a time in the history of a nation when silence becomes betrayal – and today, our silence in isolating youth representation in energy from the broader mining sector is a betrayal of potential, of unity and of Namibia’s economic future.
We stand at the threshold of the most transformative decade in Namibia’s modern economy. Energy projects, green hydrogen ambitions, oil and gas discoveries – they flood headlines and investment pipelines. Yet, while the talk of the town fills conference rooms and business deals are being signed, too many Namibian youth remain on the outside, looking in. Worse still, those in mining – the very backbone of our natural resources sector, historically joined with energy under one ministry for a reason – are barely even at the conversation table.
I propose, with urgency and clarity, that the Namibia Youth Energy Forum (NYEF) must evolve immediately into the Namibia Youth Energy & Mining Forum – a single, inclusive and strategic platform designed not only to represent youth interests in energy but also to embrace mining as a co-equal pillar of opportunity, policy engagement, capacity building and mentorship.
Energy and mining are not separate conversations. One fuels the other. One empowers the other. Our mineral wealth must work hand in hand with our energy revolution – and our youth must be equally empowered in both.
This is not a restructuring. It is a reckoning.
We must broaden our scope, and with it, our ambition:
Educate young people about every mineral, every megawatt, and every opportunity within their reach.
Mentor them with industry leaders, technocrats and those whose boots have walked the mines and whose hands have shaped Namibia’s energy story.
Equip them with the tools to turn resources into businesses, to innovate, to govern and to lead.
Create equitable opportunities – not just for a few well-positioned youth in urban centres, but for every young person in every village, town and settlement, across every tribe, gender and region.
If we fail to integrate this now, we risk repeating the mistakes that other sectors have made – producing more graduates than jobs, generating investment without inclusion, and building industries without a clear succession pipeline of empowered young Namibians ready to take ownership of their resources.
We must be the generation that changes the narrative of the African child – not as a passive observer of wealth, but as a strategic architect of it.
The Namibia Youth Energy & Mining Forum will be that house. A house for all.
A house that not only debates the deals but also prepares young people to make them.
A house that not only chases opportunities but also creates them.
A house that doesn’t knock on closed doors but builds new ones.
This is our moment. This is our mandate. And history will remember whether we rose to it.
To the youth reading this – you are no longer invisible.
To the offices reading this – Let’s build it. Together.
*Kovimariva Samuel Mungunda is an emerging investment and energy analyst with a career focus on finance, energy markets and sustainable development.
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