Namibia’s new president took the oath of office on Friday, stepping into leadership amid significant challenges, including high unemployment, inequality, and poverty.
In addition to these issues, she carries the historic weight of being Africa’s second directly elected female president and Namibia’s first woman head of state.
“If things go well, it will set a positive example,” Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told the media. “But if any issues arise—just as they do in administrations led by men—some will be quick to blame it on women.”
The 72-year-old secured victory in the November election with 58% of the vote.
A dedicated member of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), Nandi-Ndaitwah has been part of the party since she was 14. Swapo, which transitioned from a liberation movement to Namibia’s ruling party, has held power since the country’s independence from apartheid-era South Africa in 1990.
Despite improvements in the lives of the black majority, the lasting effects of apartheid remain visible, particularly in land and wealth distribution.
“Land is a serious issue in this country,” she told the media before her inauguration, highlighting the concentration of land ownership among white citizens, including absentee landowners.
She affirmed her commitment to the “willing-buyer, willing-seller” approach, ensuring that no one is forced to sell their land.
Namibia, though vast in size, has a relatively small population of three million. Official data indicates that white farmers control around 70% of the nation’s farmland, despite white Namibians making up just 1.8% of the population, according to the 2023 census.
Ranked among the world’s most unequal countries, Namibia had a Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015, as per the World Bank, which also predicts that poverty levels will remain high at 17.2% in 2024.
Nandi-Ndaitwah emphasized the need to strengthen the economy by focusing on value-added processing rather than exporting raw minerals. She also aims to develop creative industries and align education with the country’s evolving economic landscape.
She follows Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the second woman in Africa to be directly elected as president. The continent currently has only one other female leader, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan, who assumed office in 2021 after the death of her predecessor.
While Nandi-Ndaitwah wants to be evaluated on her leadership abilities, she acknowledges the significance of her election. “It’s encouraging to see more countries recognizing that women, just like men, are fully capable of holding positions of power,” she said.
