Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of Namibia: What challenges does she face?
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mpho Lakaje, presenter of the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast, speaks to Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, president of Namibia.
The former freedom fighter is the country’s first female head of state - and only the second ever directly elected female leader in Africa.
Namibia is celebrating thirty five years of independence this year - yet most of the country’s agricultural land remains in the hands of the white minority, and land reform is a key priority for President Nandi-Ndaitwah.
Namibia’s former colonial power Germany has apologised for the genocide committed under its rule at the start of the twentieth century, but it has yet to make good on the promise of reparations. Mrs Nandi-Ndaitwah remains confident the development funding will be provided - however, she is not able to give a clear time frame.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I am Mpo Lagarde, presenter of the BBC's Africa Daily. |
| 0:05.4 | This is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:09.1 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, |
| 0:12.1 | people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:15.8 | I will come back to Russia. |
| 0:18.4 | I will participate in the elections. |
| 0:21.3 | There's an increase in violence according to the coca crop. |
| 0:25.2 | There is no place in the world where women are equal. |
| 0:27.5 | I will give away the vast majority of my money and it's my full-time focus for the rest of my |
| 0:33.3 | life. |
| 0:35.5 | In this episode, I'm speaking to Netumbo Nandin Dai Tua, Namibia's new president. |
| 0:41.3 | She's the country's first female head of state and only the second ever directly elected female president in the whole of Africa. |
| 0:49.5 | Could her resounding victory, with twice the number of votes as her nearest rival, |
| 0:55.5 | mark a turning point in the heavily male-dominated politics of Africa? |
| 1:00.2 | I would want young women to take up with that courage, |
| 1:04.2 | to accept a position of responsibility, |
| 1:07.3 | so that we can dispel that myth of inequality between men and women in the public life. |
| 1:14.5 | President Nandin Daito is a former freedom fighter and veteran of the ruling South West Africa People's Organization, better known as Swapo. |
| 1:23.8 | The legacy of the apartheid she fought still looms large in Namibian politics. |
| 1:29.5 | Land reform has been an ongoing priority since independence in 1990, yet most agricultural land still remains in the hands of the white minority. |
| 1:39.5 | Namibia's former colonial power, Germany, apologized in 2021 for the genocide under its rule, |
| 1:46.5 | but development funding promised has not yet materialized. |
... |
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