The group CEO of Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender by assets, says oil and gas finds in Namibia could lift growth in that economy by as much as 7% in the next five years — with the country set to be the continent’s next biggest growth story.
Sim Tshabalala and the group’s chair, Nonkululeko Nyembezi, visited the country last week to affirm the bank’s commitment to driving Namibia’s growth as it marked 110 years of presence in the country.
“As for the Namibian economy itself, there’s a lot to like. Its fiscal authorities and central bank are both very strong, and it is ranked second in the world as a greenfield FDI destination,” Tshabalala told Business Day.
“There is a visible effort to diminish reliance on minerals — especially diamonds — and grow other sectors like tourism, manufacturing, energy and agriculture. Namibia already grows significantly faster than SA, probably reaching 3.5% this year, and averaging between 3.5% and 4.5% over the medium term.
“Then, as investment in oil and gas starts to ramp up, we could see growth approaching 7% from around 2030.”
Namibia was last month ranked as Africa’s No 1 foreign direct investment (FDI) destination in the 2025 Greenfield FDI performance index, which also ranked it second in the world.
The index is published by fDi Intelligence, a specialist division of the Financial Times, and ranks countries based on their ability to attract FDI relative to the size of their economies.
Oil ambitions
According to the US International Trade Administration, if recent oil finds in Namibia prove to be commercially viable, Namibia could become a top 15 global oil producer by 2035, thus unlocking an unprecedented revenue windfall for the government.
TotalEnergies discovered light oil and gas on the Venus prospect in 2022, with the French energy major said to be in advanced discussions to make a final investment decision in the region of $15bn to $20bn, which will then take five years of development.
The Venus 1 well is estimated to contain around 5.1-billion barrels of oil, representing a significant milestone for Namibia’s oil production ambitions.
Standard Bank, which opened its first branch in Namibia in Lüderitz in 1915, listed the local unit on the Namibian Stock Exchange in 2019 — with a minority stake held by locals.
Strengthening SA–Namibia economic ties
Tshabalala said it was important for the bank’s top brass to mark the 110th anniversary of the group’s foray into Namibia, saying the visit was to continue to cement the fraternal and organisational bonds between their teams, clients and the regulators.
“There are very close economic ties between SA and Namibia, thanks to our long shared history, and because Namibia is a member of the SACU and the Rand Monetary Area. We therefore have a lot of important clients with businesses in both SA and Namibia, and we aim to serve them seamlessly in both economies.”
Nedbank CEO Jason Quinn in August met high-ranking Namibian government officials to reaffirm the lender’s commitment to the oil- and gas-rich country.
Quinn was accompanied by Terence Sibiya, the group’s head of Africa regions. Following the visit, Quinn said, “No conversation about Namibia or its prospects will be complete without mentioning oil and gas,” stating opportunities in financing infrastructure in this regard were a priority for the bank.
Unlike rivals Standard Bank and FirstRand, which have Namibian local ownership of the businesses there, Nedbank has fallen behind in this regard, a situation Quinn has promised to remedy.
Namibia’s economy is not without its challenges, which include increased weather shocks, a structural shift in the global diamond market, and high structural unemployment.
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