By: Brenton David, Monét Basson, Naufiku Hamunime & Sonia Namadiko
Namibia’s financial sector is entering a defining moment in its sustainability journey. It is a moment shaped by climate vulnerability, emerging economic opportunity, and a growing recognition that the financial system must evolve to meet both.
It was against this backdrop that the Bank of Namibia (BoN) and RMB co-hosted the Namibia Sustainable Finance Alliance (NSFA) event on 27 March 2026. The gathering brought together industry leaders, policymakers, and practitioners for a focused conversation on one of the most consequential challenges facing emerging markets today mobilising climate finance at the scale and speed that the moment demands.
The NSFA, launched in October 2025, is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder platform led by BoN. It unites regulators, financial institutions, and industry associations under a common purpose: to embed sustainability and climate resilience into Namibia’s financial system, and to advance green bonds, sustainable finance frameworks, and climate-smart investment across the economy.
The event marked another step in translating that purpose into practice. A range of speakers and contributors participated in the event, delivering insights on topics that emphasised sustainable finance.
In her opening remarks, Teresa Louw, Chief Risk Officer of FirstRand Namibia, underscored the importance of cross-sector collaboration through platforms such as the NSFA.
“These forums matter deeply,” she noted, “because they convene diverse institutions, perspectives, and expertise to tackle challenges that no single organisation can address alone.”
She stressed that for the financial sector, sustainability and ESG considerations are no longer peripheral; they now sit at the core of risk assessment, capital allocation, and long-term institutional resilience.
Climate risk, biodiversity loss, and social inequality have become central drivers of credit quality and investment value, shaping the future of sustainable finance across Namibia and beyond.
Building on this perspective, the Deputy Governor of BoN, Leonie Dunn, highlighted that institutions are being called upon “to think more deeply about resilience, transition, long-term value creation, and the quality of capital allocation.”
For Namibia, she noted, this conversation is “both timely and critical.” As one of the most climate vulnerable countries globally, Namibians understand through lived experience the economic impacts of a warming planet, with these realities “directly affecting productivity, livelihoods, and resilience across the economy.”
At the same time, Dunn indicated that Namibia is entering “a new phase of development, with emerging opportunities in energy and industrialisation.” While these developments “hold real promise and economic potential,” she cautioned that they also place “new and increasing public demands on the financial system to allocate capital responsibly, manage risk effectively, and support sustainable growth.”
Climate finance in emerging markets
Louise Brown of Triple Capital highlighted the significant gap between capital flows and the need for climate finance in Namibia, and the continent.
She noted that most climate projects remain reliant on public sector funding, with adaptation projects particularly underserved. Unlike mitigation initiatives, adaptation projects are much more challenging, with longer lead times, making it less attractive to investors. Yet, these projects are critical to safeguarding communities and economies.
Brown said adaptation finance presents an opportunity for private sector participation, while at the same time helping manage risks while preventing future losses.
Addressing constraints in Namibia
Tshepo Ntsane, RMB Sustainable Finance & ESG Advisory Transactor, underscored Namibia’s unique and compelling position to attract both domestic and international pools of sustainable and transition finance capital in support of its energy transition objectives.
His contribution added an important dimension to the conversation, shifting the focus from climate finance in its broadest sense to the specific and often misunderstood role of transition finance.
Transition finance, he explained, provides a framework for channelling capital into hard-to-abate sectors, enabling corporates and economies to decarbonise in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Crucially, these investments are not “green” today. They do not meet the conventional thresholds of sustainable finance as typically defined. But they are deliberately structured to drive real economy decarbonisation over time, supporting the gradual but necessary shift away from carbon-intensive activities.
This distinction matters enormously for a country like Namibia, where the energy transition is not a theoretical exercise, but an economic imperative with tangible and immediate consequences for livelihoods, infrastructure, and long-term competitiveness.
The numbers alone tell a sobering story.
To fully implement the mitigation and adaptation measures contained in Namibia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), it is estimated that the country requires US$15 billion for mitigation and adaptation actions across all sectors by 2030.
Of that total, only US$1.5 billion is likely to be sourced domestically. This means that approximately 90 percent of the required funding must come from external sources, whether through international climate funds, development finance institutions, or private sector capital markets.
This financing gap is not simply a funding challenge. It is a structural one. Closing it will require Namibia to do far more than present projects to investors. It demands that the country build institutional credibility, public policy coherence, and investment-grade frameworks that give both domestic and international capital providers the confidence to commit at the scale and speed required.
From barriers to bankability
The panel discussion, ‘From Barriers to Bankability: Mobilising Climate Finance in Namibia,’ surfaced a critical tension at the heart of Namibia’s climate finance landscape.
While a pipeline of climate projects exists, many remain far from bankable. The conversation clarified that bridging the gap between public and private sector funding will require more than goodwill; it demands deliberate structuring, blended finance solutions, and a shared commitment to making projects financially viable.
The panel was moderated by Naufiku Hamunime, Deputy Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at the Bank of Namibia. In her opening contribution, she set the tone for the discussion, noting that sustainable finance is not simply about mobilising capital, but about “building the conditions that allow capital to flow with confidence and at scale.”
She underscored that real work lies in creating an enabling environment, one built on trust, transparency, and institutional readiness, where private capital feels confident enough to follow public ambition.
Petrus Muteyauli of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) offered a perspective grounded in both opportunity and pragmatism.
He highlighted Namibia’s significant natural advantages, noting that the country sees itself as one of sub-Saharan Africa’s strongest candidates to benefit from climate-related investments, given its “abundant solar radiation, wind resources, and many other resources” that position it competitively in the climate investment arena.
However, he was candid about the challenges on the adaptation side. Most adaptation projects, he explained, do not generate commercial returns; their benefits are social rather than financial.
In response, the government has made a deliberate policy shift: “We will borrow less on adaptation initiatives. We are seeking more grants on adaptation initiatives, especially those that are not profit-oriented.”
Joachim Komeheke of Bank Windhoek brought the conversation closer to the ground, offering a nuanced view of where bankability breaks down. For certain adaptation projects, such as irrigation in agriculture, the business case is relatively straightforward.
A farmer can mitigate the public risk of erratic rainfall, continue producing and selling crops, and service a loan. But for projects involving biodiversity finance or land degradation, the picture becomes far more complex.
As he explained, “the business case is difficult to pinpoint,” largely due to the long-term repayment profiles and the absence of conventional revenue streams that lenders typically rely on.
He was equally direct about the gaps within the banking sector itself: “We see a few of the adaptation finance opportunities come to our tables, but because we don’t have the right blend of solutions, it is difficult to bank those types of projects.”
By uniting industry efforts, this platform provides a powerful vehicle to scale sustainable finance, share expertise, and attract international capital to where it is needed most.
For RMB Namibia and the Bank of Namibia, co-hosting this event was more than a symbolic gesture; it was a deliberate call to action, a commitment to turning dialogue into tangible outcomes.
Climate finance is not simply about mitigating risks. It is about recognising and seizing the profound opportunities that the green transition presents opportunities to reimagine infrastructure, to create dignified employment, to leapfrog outdated systems, and to build an economy that works for both people and planet.
Namibia’s abundant renewable energy resources, its biodiversity, and its geographic position as a gateway to Southern Africa are not incidental advantages. They are strategic assets that, if properly harnessed, can place this nation at the forefront of Africa’s resilience story.
But ambition alone is insufficient. Progress demands that we strengthen the regulatory and institutional foundations that give investors’ confidence. It demands that we confront the constraints, the financing gaps, the capacity limitations, and the currency risks with innovative, context-specific solutions.
It also demands that we mobilise capital not only from traditional sources, but through blended finance instruments, green bonds, carbon markets, and the growing appetite of impact investors.
The work does not end when this dialogue series closes. It begins here.
Brenton David is an Environmental Social and Climate Risk Manager at FNB Namibia
Monét Basson is a Transactor at RMB Namibia
Naufiku Hamunime is a Deputy Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Bank of Namibia
Sonia Namadiko is a Communications and Sustainability Practitioner
