Namibia has inaugurated in its first female President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Friday after she won elections last year that extended the ruling party's 35-year grip on power.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, becomes one of the few women leaders in in Africa following the inauguration ceremony attended by heads of states of neighbouring countries.
Previously the vice president, she is a stalwart of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) that led the sparsely populated and uranium-rich country to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
The inauguration of the new president coincides with the independence anniversary.
Popularly known by her initials, NNN, Nandi-Ndaitwah secured 58% of the vote in the chaotic November elections, which were extended several times after logistical failures led to major delays.
Strong challenge
The youthful opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) mounted a strong challenge but took only 25.5% of the vote, underscoring continued loyalty to SWAPO even as the popularity of other southern African liberation parties has waned.
A key issue at the polls was massive unemployment among the young population, with 44% of 18- to 34-year-olds without work in 2023 in a country of just three million people.
On the eve of her inauguration, NNN said tackling unemployment was a priority.
"In the next five years we must produce at least 500,000 jobs," she told South Africa's national broadcaster SABC, adding it would require investment of 85 billion Namibian dollars ($4.67 billion, 4.3 billion euros).
Job opportunities
Key sectors for job creation are agriculture, fishing and the creative and sports industries, she said.
She appealed for unity after political divisions surfaced during the elections, which the IPC sought to annul in a failed court action.
"We can make our politics during the campaign and so on, but once it's over, we must build Namibia together," she said.
On her election as Namibia's first woman president, she told SABC: "Of course it's a good thing that we are breaking the ceiling; we are breaking the walls."
World’s third-largest uranium producer
NNN, a daughter of an Anglican pastor, has taken a strict stance against abortion, which is banned in Namibia except in exceptional circumstances. Gay marriage is also illegal
A member of SWAPO since her early teens, she was exiled in Moscow during the liberation struggle. As foreign minister between 2012 and 2024, she praised her country's "good historical relations" with North Korea.
Namibia is the world's third or fourth biggest natural uranium producer, depending on the year.
The country is also rich in diamonds and hopes to exploit its natural gas and oil deposits. It has enormous potential to produce solar and wind energy.
