EDITORIAL: Thy good neighbour

Namibia is a good neighbour. Perhaps too good a neighbour, sometimes to our own disadvantage.

Good neighbourliness is an admirable foreign-policy principle. Namibia should continue to be peaceful, cooperative and respectful of its neighbours.

But good neighbourliness must be reciprocal. Namibia accepted the International Court of Justice ruling in 1999 that Kasikili/Sedudu Island belonged to Botswana. The ruling settled a difficult territorial dispute peacefully and Namibia respected it.

Then came the 2018 boundary treaty, amid long-running concerns over Situngu Island and surrounding traditional grazing and fishing areas. For communities such as the Mayeyi and Mafwe, the issue had implications for their everyday livelihoods.

This is where government must remember that good diplomacy also means standing firmly for one's own people.

Then there is Angola. More than two decades ago, Namibia invested heavily in extending its railway network northwards, under an agreement that a corresponding Angolan rail would link the two countries via Oshikango and Santa Clara. Angola never kept its end of the bargain to date.

The same principle applies to the Southern Times newspaper - a joint Namibian-Zimbabwean government project. Namibia ended up carrying nearly the entire financial burden. By 2019, when the project was being wound up - more than N$60 million compared to Zimbabwe's recorded monetary contribution of N$1.4 million.

And now we have Baynes. Government has approved a N$4 billion financing arrangement for the Namibia-Angola transmission infrastructure linked to the proposed hydropower project. The project is strategically important, but large cross-border projects must come with clarity about who pays for what, who assumes which risks and how the benefits are shared.

We should continue to be generous neighbours. But let’s never become the whipping boys of Southern Africa.