Namibia should examine royalty-in-kind

Member of Parliament Tobie Aupindi's proposal that the country consider a royalty-in-kind system, where the government receives part of mining royalties in actual commodities rather than only cash, deserves serious consideration. Under such a system, Namibia could receive portions of production, such as gold, uranium, copper, zinc, or lithium, rather than purely financial payments. This approach would allow the country to build strategic commodity reserves and capture greater long-term value from its mineral resources. Ghana operates a gold royalty-in-kind mechanism through its state gold purchasing programme. Botswana receives part of its diamond production through its partnership with De Beers. In Zimbabwe, producers are required to deliver a portion of their gold to the central bank. Angola receives oil royalties in physical crude. Namibia currently lacks strategic stockpiles of several minerals it produces. The country has no national reserves of gold, uranium, copper, zinc or lithium, despite being a major exporter of many of these commodities. A carefully designed royalty-in-kind system could help change that. By accumulating strategic reserves while maintaining transparent pricing and marketing systems, Namibia could strengthen its economic security and position itself more strategically in global mineral markets.