Middle East / Africa
Country profile: Namibia
| Location: | Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa |
| Climate: | desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic |
| Terrain: | mostly high plateau; Namib Desert along coast; Kalahari Desert in east |
| Size: | 825418 sq. km total (Land area: 825418 sq. km ) |
| Population: | 2,088,669 |
| Languages: | English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages 1% (includes Oshivambo, Herero, Nama) |
| Government: | republic |
| Capital city: | Windhoek |
| Legal system: | based on Roman-Dutch law and 1990 constitution; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Currency: | Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
The Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), which evolved into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) , has been in existence since 1980. The original nine member-countries were Angola , Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. South Africa joined SADC in 1994 followed by Mauritius (1995), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, 1997). In 2005, SADC granted Madagascar membership. In addition to belonging to SADC, Angola, DRC, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966 the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that was soon named Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region. Namibia has been governed by SWAPO since the country won independence in 1990. Hifikepunye POHAMBA was elected president in November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam NUJOMA who led the country during its first 14 years of self rule.
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | ||
| Consumption: | 18,400 bbl/day (2005 est.) | |
| Exports: | ||
| Imports: | 17,580 bbl/day (2005 est.) | |
| Reserves: | 59 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) | |
| Major fields: |
Namibia - recent news
| 16 Apr 25 |
Namibia: Grand Gulf Energy announces application for strategic oil and gas block offshore Namibia Grand Gulf Energy has entered into a binding Option Agreement, providing Grand Gulf with an exclusive option to acquire 100% of Wrangel Pty Ltd. Wrangel is an applicant for a 70% working interest (WI) in a Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) over Block 2312 in the Walvis Basin, offshore Namibia. |
| 10 Apr 25 |
Namibia: ReconAfrica provides drilling update on Prospect I Reconnaissance Energy Africa has announced a drilling update on Prospect I. Prospect I is located onshore Namibia in Petroleum Exploration Licence 073 ('PEL73') and is the Company's largest prospect to be drilled so far. It is targeting 365 million barrels of unrisked and 32 million barrels of risked prospective light/medium oil resources, or 1.9 trillion cubic feet of unrisked and 140 billion cubic feet of risked prospective natural gas resources. |
| 24 Mar 25 |
Namibia unveils offshore drilling plans, new licensing opportunities Namibia’s offshore oil and gas industry is set for significant growth in 2025, driven by new licensing opportunities and an uptick in drilling activities, Petroleum Commissioner Maggy Shino announced during a webinar hosted by the African Energy Chamber, Wood Mackenzie and Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy. |
| 20 Mar 25 |
Namibia: ReconAfrica announces the acceleration of drilling into Q2 2025 and a corporate update ReconAfrica has made great progress in getting Prospect I ready to drill and, as a result, is accelerating the spud date into Q2 2025. Prospect I is one of the largest mapped structures in the Damara Fold Belt in Petroleum Exploration Licence 073 ('PEL 73'), onshore Namibia. |
| 17 Mar 25 |
Namibia: Sintana Energy provides PEL 87 update Sintana Energy has provided an update regarding developments associated with Blocks 2713A and 2713B, (PEL 87), located in Namibia’s Orange Basin. PEL 87 is operated by a subsidiary of Pancontinental Energy. Pancontinental has received notification from Woodside that it has elected not to exercise its option to farm-in to the PEL 87 project. A process is underway to secure an alternate farm-in partner to fund exploration drilling within PEL 87 at the earliest opportunity. |
Namibia - more news
Other countries in this region
- Algeria,
- Angola,
- Bahrain,
- Benin,
- Botswana,
- Burundi,
- Cameroon,
- Central Africa Republic,
- Chad,
- Comoros,
- Congo (Brazzaville),
- Congo (Democratic Rep.),
- Cote d'Ivoire,
- Djibouti,
- Egypt,
- Equatorial Guinea,
- Eritrea,
- Ethiopia,
- Gabon,
- Gambia,
- Ghana,
- Guinea (Republic),
- Guinea Bissau,
- Iran,
- Iraq,
- Israel,
- Jordan,
- Kenya,
- Kuwait,
- Lebanon,
- Liberia,
- Libya,
- Madagascar,
- Malawi,
- Mali,
- Mauritania,
- Mauritius,
- Morocco,
- Mozambique,
- Niger,
- Nigeria,
- Oman,
- Palestine,
- Qatar,
- Rwanda,
- Sao Tome,
- Saudi Arabia,
- Senegal,
- Seychelles,
- Sierra Leone,
- Somalia,
- Somaliland,
- South Africa,
- South Sudan,
- Sudan,
- Syria,
- Tanzania,
- Togo,
- Tunisia,
- Uganda,
- United Arab Emirates,
- Western Sahara,
- Yemen,
- Zambia,
- Zanzibar,
- Zimbabwe
