Namibia: Alweendo Warns Against Dishing Out Exploration Rights to Locals

MINES and energy minister Tom Alweendo has warned that Namibians holding onto dormant exclusive prospecting licences (EPLs) at the expense of capable foreign investors risk lowering Namibia’s maximum earnings from the extractive sector.

Alweendo said in the National Assembly yesterday that awarding exploration licences to locals without the capacity to do exploration is tantamount to denying citizens the potential economic benefits.

He said the move could be equated to limiting the country from…