Cabinet has approved the prohibition of exporting certain critical minerals unprocessed.

The decision was taken during the 8th Cabinet meeting held on 06 June 2023, stating that raw materials such as lithium, graphite, manganese and rare earth elements are not to be exported.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has been receiving public criticism about the lack of value addition locally on the vast amounts of minerals leaving the country, which has the potential to spur Namibia’s economic growth and development.

Cabinet has, however, approved that only smaller quantities of such raw materials may be allowed for export at the direction of the ministry.

The mining industry accounts for approximately 11 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) providing more than 50 per cent of foreign earnings.

Namibia is a world-class producer of rough diamonds, uranium, gold, zinc, acid-grade fluorspar, copper, lead, limestone, cement, salt, and dimension stone and is prospective of lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare earths and other minerals that are now declared critical by many countries globally.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency