Namibia inaugurates its first woman president

WINDHOEK, Namibia

Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, became one of the few women leaders on the continent in a ceremony attended by heads of state from several African countries including Angola, South Africa and Tanzania.

Previously in the post of vice president for a year, she is a veteran of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) that led the sparsely populated and uranium-rich country to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

Outgoing president Nangolo Mbumba, 83, handed power to Nandi-Ndaitwah at a ceremony that coincided with the 35th anniversary of Namibia's independence and was moved from the Independence Stadium to State House because of rare heavy rains.

There was applause and ululations as NNN, as she is popularly known, took the oath of office.

She secured 58 percent of the vote in the chaotic November elections, which were extended several times after logistical failures led to major delays.

Namibia is witnessing one of its "foremost daughters breaking through the glass ceiling", Mbumba said. "It has been a long time coming."

"We are living an historic moment. Super-excited at the inauguration of a female president," said businesswoman Monica Geingos, wife of president Hage Geingob who died in office in 2024, as she arrived for the event.

"It's an exciting day for Africa. She will continue to be a role model for many other young women and women of all ages," said former South African deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

The youthful opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) mounted a strong challenge at last year's election but took only 25.5 percent of the presidential vote, underscoring continued loyalty to SWAPO even as the popularity of other southern African liberation parties has waned.

A key issue at the ballot box was massive unemployment among the young population, with 44 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds without work in 2023 in a country of just three million people.

On the eve of her inauguration, NNN said tackling unemployment was a priority.

"In the next five years we must produce at least 500,000 jobs," she told South Africa's national broadcaster SABC, adding it would require investment of 85 billion Namibian dollars ($4.67 billion, 4.3 billion euros).

Key sectors for job creation are agriculture, fishing and the creative and sports industries, she said.

She appealed for unity after political divisions surfaced during the elections, which the IPC sought to annul in a failed court action.

"We can make our politics during the campaign and so on but once it's over, we must build Namibia together," she said.

On her election as Namibia's first woman president, she told SABC: "Of course it's a good thing that we are breaking the ceiling, we are breaking the walls."

NNN, a conservative daughter of an Anglican pastor, has taken a strict stance against abortion, which is banned in Namibia except in exceptional circumstances. Gay marriage is also illegal.

A member of SWAPO since her early teens, she was exiled in Moscow during the liberation struggle. As foreign minister between 2012 and 2024, she praised her country's "good historical relations" with North Korea.

Namibia is the world's third or fourth biggest natural uranium producer, depending on the year, and supplies the radioactive metal to countries producing nuclear power, including France.

The sunbaked and dry Atlantic Ocean country is also rich in diamonds and hopes to exploit its natural gas and oil deposits.