Namibia will make access to its critical minerals conditional on foreign investors building processing plants in the country, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said during the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

“When you are coming to Namibia, you don’t want to be a briefcase business,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said. “You have to put up a processing plant in our country.”

She said Namibia has for too long exported raw minerals and imported finished goods made from them.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said she intends to write into law a requirement that foreign investors partner with local businesses. Asked by Semafor whether local partnership would be mandatory, she said the government was “putting it in the law.”

She said she wants foreign firms to team up with local entrepreneurs “so that you become part and parcel of us.”

In return for processing at home, she offered investors a long-term partnership and a stable operating environment. She pointed to 36 years of peace since Namibia’s independence in 1990.

The president’s message reflects a recurring theme among African leaders at this year’s U.N. gathering. Governments across the continent are trying to turn global competition for critical minerals into investment, industrial development and jobs.

Critical minerals are metals and materials used in batteries, renewable energy equipment, electronics and defence systems. Demand has risen as the United States and China compete for supply.

Namibia has pursued such rules for years without success. The country’s empowerment framework won cabinet approval in 2015 and was meant to become law by 2018.

Namibia has required 15% local ownership for new mining licences since 2021. Officials floated raising that figure to 51% last year.

Nandi-Ndaitwah dismissed comparisons with South Africa’s empowerment rules, saying the outcome depends on the approach taken. In South Africa, investors started with stakes of 60% to 70% that later stepped down to roughly 51-49 with local communities.

Namibia is a major uranium producer and also has deposits of lithium, rare earths, copper and graphite. The government is betting that its mineral wealth and political stability give it bargaining power.

Mining is Namibia’s leading economic sector and accounts for roughly 10% of gross domestic product each year, according to the U.S. Commercial Service’s country guide.

Domestic pressure is also building. Unemployment is close to 40%, and Nandi-Ndaitwah warned that “we are sitting on a time bomb.”

The comments continue a policy direction set earlier in the president’s term. Nandi-Ndaitwah, Namibia’s first female president, was sworn in on March 21, 2025, and told her first cabinet meeting she wanted to transform the mining sector to spur local processing and employment, Bloomberg reported.

Her government has also aimed to invest 85 billion Namibian dollars ($4.7 billion) in infrastructure, manufacturing and renewable energy, Bloomberg reported.

In a Council on Foreign Relations appearance during a U.S. visit, she described value addition in Namibia’s critical minerals as central to the country’s plans to diversify beyond raw commodities.

Namibia announced in June 2023 a ban on exports of unprocessed lithium and other critical minerals. The measure was intended to push international firms to build battery-metals processing plants in the country, according to the U.S. Commercial Service.

Other African resource holders have taken similar steps to capture more value from their minerals. Governments on the continent say royalties alone do not deliver enough jobs or industrial growth.

Nandi-Ndaitwah spoke at an event held by Invest Africa, a business network focused on investment in Africa, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.