Attract investment to diversify tourism industry – Daniel

Attracting and encouraging new investments to ensure tourism industry diversification and sustainability is a key and urgent focus for newly appointed tourism minister Indileni Daniel.Daniel highlighted her key priorities during her first meeting with officials from the environment, tourism and forestry ministry yesterday.“Our collective mission remains clear, and it is to preserve Namibia’s natural heritage, foster sustainable tourism, and drive economic growth while ensuring environmental stewardship,” she said.During her talk, Daniel echoed the words of President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who has set a clear expectation for all government institutions – among them that delays in the implementation of decisions will not be tolerated.“This directive underscores the urgency of our work and the need for efficiency, innovation and accountability in all our operations," the environment and tourism minister said. “We must remain steadfast in our commitment to integrity. The president has made it clear that corruption should be seen as treason, a clarion call for all of us to uphold the highest ethical standards in our service to the nation,” she added. Additionally, the ministry must act decisively to improve service delivery and efficiency, the minister said. “We must work as a team, coordinate across all directorates and strengthen customer service at all levels," Daniel stressed. Daniel said some adjustments will be necessary to ensure the ministry&#039;s work aligns with the Swapo Party’s election manifesto and its associated implementation plan.Critical workThe minister emphasised that the ministry plays a pivotal role in Namibia’s economic development.“Tourism is a critical economic enabler. Our natural resources, including wildlife and protected areas, are important drivers of tourism and have a key role to play in our drive towards greater self-sufficiency and poverty reduction in their own right.”In the case of tourism, the ministry must ensure that a spatial tourism master plan is developed by 30 June this year, said Daniel.She added that this is necessary to stimulate the local economy by redefining the tourism landscape and fostering greater socio-economic inclusion.“We also need to ensure optimum benefits for all local communities from tourism and natural resources through value addition and diversification.”Moreover, the minister said another focus will be to capitalise on and fully operationalise the lotteries and gambling boards in order to generate much-needed revenue for the treasury.Teamwork neededAmong the ministry&#039;s priorities will be to fast-track the issuance of environmental clearance certificates to facilitate responsible development as well as digitising services, including tourism information systems, to improve data collection and analysis, the minister said.She also highlighted the importance of attracting new investments in tourism to diversify and strengthen the sector and ensure that local communities benefit from natural resources through value addition and increased participation in tourism initiatives.With regards to environmental protection and resource management, Daniel said reforestation efforts to combat deforestation and land degradation should be accelerated, while climate change resilience should be enhanced by implementing the updated Nationally Determined Contributions to support food, water and energy security.The ministry also intends to operationalise the Access and Benefit Sharing Office to ensure communities derive value from natural resources.Anti-poaching and conservation efforts should be strengthened by increasing investment in protected area infrastructure to safeguard wildlife and address human-wildlife conflict, Daniel said. Moreover, the ministry will work to improve the management of concession rights to communities to ensure income generation while also supporting nature conservation and potentially changing community perceptions about wildlife and protected areas.Daniel said she also aims to enhance inter-ministerial and stakeholder collaboration to protect Namibia’s biodiversity.“We have a robust set of policies on waste management, forestry, wildlife, climate and biodiversity. Our duty is to ensure these policies are fully implemented and to remove any barriers hindering progress.”

Attract investment to diversify tourism industry – Daniel

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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Attract investment to diversify tourism industry – Daniel

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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