Bush praises Namibia

Former US President George W. Bush has congratulated Namibia on the 98% implementation of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)-Namibia.The MCA-Namibia programme was signed in 2008 with funding worth N$3 billion for public investment in education, agriculture and tourism with the aim to reduce poverty through economic growth.The programme concluded with a successful compact implementation in 2014.Bush and his wife, Laura, arrived in Namibia Wednesday morning after visiting Botswana.The former president paid a courtesy call on President Hage Geingob the same day, and a banquet on his honour was held at State House that evening.Bush also commended Geingob on his leadership and the example he sets on the African continent, as well as the Namibian First Lady Monica Geingos for her strong advocacy towards health for women.Bush said he is on a business mission in Namibia; “a business mission to help people live”.“I have excitedly learned of women who survived HIV through anti-retroviral treatment, because your government was effective in distributing the medications to even rural areas,” he said.Bush indicated that his mission is to campaign to eliminate cervical cancer in women, saying he is comfortable that they will succeed in this.On his part, Geingob thanked Bush for the MCA-Namibia programme, saying it was well implemented in the country.He said the World Bank decided to classify Namibia as an upper-middle income country, and it thus cannot get access to soft loans and grants.With the MCA-Namibia, that requirement was waved and Namibia qualified. “It was a well-carried-out programme, of which some of our projects must be a model of the Millennium Challenge,” he said.The former US president and his wife visited facilities in Windhoek being prepared for 'Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon' services.Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, launched in 2011 by the Bush Institute along with other private and public partners, builds upon the HIV/Aids platform to combat cervical and breast cancer in the developing world.This was Bush's seventh visit to Africa since his time in the White House, but his first trip to Namibia and second to Botswana in post-presidency. Nampa

Bush praises Namibia

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-02

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Bush praises Namibia

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-02

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