The National Planning Commission (NPC) says Namibia is ready to absorb a growing wave of Chinese investment following President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah's state visit to China.
With nine cooperation agreements, questions are mounting over whether the country's infrastructure, planning and industrial capacity can keep pace with the expected influx.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah's state visit to China has opened the floodgates for fresh investment interest, with Chinese companies targeting Namibia's energy, infrastructure and mining sectors.
The elevation of bilateral ties to a Namibia-China Community with a Shared Future for the New Era have also heightened expectations that more Chinese businesses will establish operations in Namibia.
"Now that investment deals have been sealed between Namibia and China, implementation remains crucial, particularly for Namibia that's racing to meet the objectives under its Vision 2030. China, on the other hand, is determined to maintain the pace of industrialisation that has made it the world's second-largest economy," said NBC reporter Blanche Goreses.
NPC's Director-General, Kaire Mbuende points to Namibia's development blueprint already identifying the needs to unlock that growth.
"Infrastructure plays a critical role in that, especially the cross-regional infrastructure such as the roads, railway to Botswana, to Zambia. These are important projects. Of course, the Port of Walvis Bay enhancing its capacity, the Port of Lüderitz, because given the size of our population, we should look at ourselves more broadly, as a springboard for economic activities elsewhere."
Dr. Mbuende sees the growing interest from Chinese companies as an opportunity to ensure a meaningful participation by Namibians rather than exporting raw materials.
"I think we are going to see a lot of Chinese coming to Namibia, and it's a question of how do we handle them, and how do we make sure that it's a win-win situation for our people."
Some of the investors who met President Nandi-Ndaitwah and Cabinet ministers have already identified projects they want to pursue.
Chairman of the China Energy International Group, Qiao Xubin, states, "We already won an auction of 50 megawatts of wind power generation project, and it will start construction by the end of this September in Lüderitz. Namibia actually has excellent wind and solar resources We'd like to provide the experience and lessons we learned from Chinese new power system development."
"The discussion is about some investors which they like to come to Namibia, we are busy finding the funds to develop some affordable housing project. We target about 100,000 houses, they will be in different regions,"says Executive Chairperson of Helmsman Group, Stina Wu.
The Chinese Embassy recently revealed that there are more than 50 medium and large Chinese enterprises operating in Namibia, accounting for about 30% foreign direct investment