Africa-Press – Namibia. Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare confirmed that the government is currently discussing the possible acquisition of a 10% stake in Rössing Uranium.
The Namibian government currently holds less than 4% of the shares.
The PM said the stake was originally held by South Africans during the apartheid era and, under the law of succession, it should technically belong to the Namibian government.
“The line minister and others are pursuing that route precisely to maximise Namibia’s stake in Rössing Uranium, which is the right thing to do, and if then the State is not willing to take it up, of course, we can extend it to all others that might have the financial capacity to do so,” he said.
Ngurare noted that Namibians must benefit and reap the fruits of the resources of the country, including, in this case, uranium.
Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani last week said it should be something that takes priority in government to make sure that “we empower a number of Namibians through 10%.”
He cited the stake is roughly between N$1.5 billion and N$2 billion.
“I want to know how the government is monitoring the situation and how you are insisting that these businesses can come together and work out a framework where more and more Namibians can be empowered through this resource,” he said.
In retrospect, the 10% stake was held by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), which opened a public “disposal” process to sell its 10.2% equity stake early this year, attributing it to the end of its investment period.
The Extractor Magazine reports that the IDC was one of Rössing’s founding shareholders when the uranium mine began operations in the 1970s.
In 2018, Rio Tinto sold its majority stake to China National Uranium Corporation, it states.
The Chinese company now holds 68.6% of the shares.
The magazine also cites that the Iranian government has owned 15% of Rössing since 1976. Namibia retains 51% of the mine’s voting rights.
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