EDITORIAL: Ownership follows investment - not entitlement

The pedestrian outrage over Namibia’s latest desalination project has once again exposed a persistent weakness in our national discourse – an entrenched culture of entitlement masquerading as patriotism.

According to reports, government will hold a 30% stake in the desalination plant, while a Chinese state-owned investor will control 70%.

In any commercial joint venture anywhere in the world, ownership is determined by capital investment, risk exposure and technical contribution. Those who put in the most money, assume the largest financial risks and provide the required expertise will, naturally, hold the largest share.

To suggest that a foreign investor must commit billions of dollars to a complex infrastructure project and then graciously surrender control to the host nation is not nationalism – it is fantasy.

Namibia did not build the Atlantic Ocean. We merely happen to be next to it. Geography alone does not finance desalination plants.

Turning seawater into potable water is one of the most capital-intensive technological processes in modern infrastructure development. If it’s so easy, why haven’t we got a plant of our own?

If we rely on foreign investment to make such projects possible, we cannot simultaneously demand that the investor carry the financial burden while relinquishing the economic returns.

This contradiction surfaces repeatedly in Namibia’s economic debates. We lament the lack of investment. We plead for infrastructure development. We celebrate announcements of billion-dollar projects.

Yet the moment foreign capital enters the equation, suspicion and outrage follow.

If investors stay away, we complain that Namibia is being ignored.

We cannot run a modern economy on such contradictions.

If Namibians desire majority ownership in strategic ventures, the path is straightforward: invest more capital. Mobilise domestic savings, empower local businesses, strengthen development finance institutions and leverage pension funds for infrastructure.