Emulate Oman's local policy content, lawmakers urged

Namibia has been urged to follow the example of the Sultanate of Oman when it implements a local policy to ensure that the country will be able to develop economically. This is according to the chairperson of the Economic Association of Namibia, Jason Kasuto.

Speaking at the just-concluded Africa Energies Summit in London, he said a well-embedded strategy was important for economic development.

“It is important for us to not only have a deep understanding of our environment, but a very deep understanding. That is why I touched on the Oman case study, which has been able to accelerate job creation and the empowerment of its citizens. It’s important for Namibia to learn from those interventions,” Kasuto said.

It was also a good time for Namibia to position its economy to be able to benefit from newly discovered oil and has resources, the chairperson noted.

"Namibia has a golden opportunity to move beyond policy and regulation and to start thinking deeply about strategy. What is our strategy? What is our short-term, medium-term and long-term strategy? What is it that we need to achieve around the structure of our economy through the oil and gas opportunities?"

Collaboration

Kasuto also shared the need for African economies to be more collaborative to grow their economies.

“There is an evident infrastructure and services need, such as onshore base facilities support and logistics services, which can be a major revenue, technology transfer and capability generator for both local content firms and government beyond the taxes and royalties regime,” Kasuto said.

The national upstream petroleum local content policy’s objective is aimed at providing a clear and stable regulatory framework for local content requirements. To ensure that the local content policy comes to fruition, it is critical that the legal framework governing the petroleum sector is consistent with the local content policy and makes clear the obligations and mechanisms through which the local content policy can be delivered.

The implementation of this policy will, therefore, be through steady and deliberate efforts from the government, operators and the stakeholders within the private sector, working together with unity of purpose to ensure the accomplishment of its objectives. This, together with good governance will achieve long-term growth and diversification in the economy and a sustainable development of the petroleum upstream industry, the mines and energy ministry said.