The Electricity Control Board (ECB) has approved a 3.7% bulk electricity tariff increase for NamPower, lower than the utility's requested 8.4%. The new tariff takes effect on 1 August 2026.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Electricity Control Board (ECB), Robert Kahimise, says the average bulk electricity tariff will rise from N$2.06 per kilowatt an hour to N$2.14 per kilowatt an hour. 

Kahimise says had the full application been approved, the tariff would have increased to two dollars and twenty-three cents per kilowatt-hour.

He further stated that the board approved a revenue adjustment of 4.8%, but a N$90 million contribution from the National Energy Fund will be paid directly to NamPower. 

As a result, consumers will only absorb a 3.7% increase.

"We allowed 4.8% with a further increase. Due to the N$90 million support from the National Energy Fund, the increase to be passed on to consumers is 3.7%, which is also below the current inflation rate."

He also highlighted that the approved revenue will enable NamPower to remain financially sustainable by maintaining profitability, adequate liquidity and sufficient capacity to service its debt.

He has urged Nampower to improve operational efficiency, strengthen cost recovery and ensure prudent capital investment.

"The government has shown that a substantial share of the cost pressure is on behalf of the nation at large, sparing households, especially low-income and vulnerable families as well as SMEs, from a far steeper increase. This gesture reflects the government's ongoing resolve to keep electricity within the reach of all Namibians while at the same time safeguarding the financial viability of the utilities that must deliver it."