Tanzania set to open embassy in Namibia

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will soon open an embassy in Namibia as the two countries seek to foster bilateral relations in an endeavour to deepen economic ties.

Speaking during a Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation (JPCC) for the two countries in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Tanzania’s minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, said Namibia has also said it will open an embassy in Tanzania.

The JPCC has been meeting in Dar es Salaam for two days - the second meeting since the first one was held in 1999.

“During President John Magufuli’s visit to Namibia [in May this year], he said we would open an embassy there. Before the end of this year, we will have opened our embassy in Namibia - and the Namibian ambassador will also have come to officially start working here in Tanzania,” the minister said.

Tanzania and Namibia also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) spelling out how the two nations will cooperate in tourism, mining, manufacturing/industries and trade - as well as in the empowerment of youths.

According to Prof Kabudi, Tanzania has a lot to learn from Namibia - especially on how the southwest African nation has managed to successfully use its huge desert, the Namib, as a tourist attraction. “The country has indeed made considerable investments in its tourism sector,” he said.

He said Namibia can also learn a thing or two from Tanzania, including the nation’s Health sector. As it is, Namibia has been sending its nationals to Tanzania to be trained as medical doctors.

The minister for International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of Namibia, Ms Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwa, said her country is most grateful for the role played by Tanzania during Namibia’s liberation struggle.

She exuded confidence that the MoU will be utilized for the benefit of citizens of both countries. In the event, she called upon the JPCC to cultivate a tendency of meeting regularly in the best interests of the two nations.