The Minister of Industries, Mines, and Energy, Natangue Ithete, has tabled a budget of N$637.5 million to help Namibia grow its industries, bring electricity to more homes, and create jobs.
The proposed budget prioritises renewable energy expansion, industrial infrastructure development and universal electricity access by 2040.
Ithete said the money will be used to build and fix places where small businesses can operate from and support projects that can use clean energy, such as solar or biomass power.
One of the biggest parts of the budget, N$388.1 million, will go towards bringing electricity to homes that don't have it yet.
This year, the government hopes to connect 10,000 homes.
The Minister also spoke about important energy projects that have started or need to be completed.
These include a 40-megawatt biomass power plant in Tsumeb, a new power plant in Walvis Bay that could later use green hydrogen and a solar power plant in Usakos.
"We have re-engineered our processes to accelerate implementation. Instead of managing all projects from the ministry level, we have partnered and signed service-level agreements with regional electricity distributors, local authorities and Nampower to leverage their resources and experiences to get the job done. However, these milestones were not achieved without challenges across sub-sectors. For example, limited human resources were stretched thin by the growing demands."
Another N$56.3 million will be used to start preparing for a new power station, the Baynes Hydro Power Station.
This project is being done together with Angola and will give the country more clean energy in the future.
The ministry also wants to help small businesses by fixing up business parks and building new ones at Omaruru, Walvis Bay and Tsumeb.
A total of N$50 million is planned for this work.
To make sure that trade in Namibia is fair and safe, N$127.4 million will go to managing local trade and making rules that protect buyers and sellers.
This money will also support organisations like the Namibia Standards Institute and the Namibia Competition Commission.
Other key allocations include: N$81.1 million for geological mapping and resource exploration, N$40.1 million to safeguard the diamond sector, N$9.6 million for petroleum supply security, and N$89.7 million for policy coordination and ministry support services.