News

A new project has recently been launched in the Erongo Region. Valuable organic oil is obtained from the nuts of the evergreen jojoba plant: good for the cosmetics industry and a livelihood for rural residents near the Omaruru River. The first jojoba festival took place at the end of 2019 in the vicinity of the Omdel Dam east of Henties Bay - right in the middle of the desert!

At the beginning of 2019, when it appeared that the population of wild horses was in its final hour, with no solution in sight, there was a massive outcry from the Namibian public and horse-lovers across the globe. The dire situation prompted Minister of Environment and Tourism to personally step in, and for the ministry to remove several of the hyenas from the clan.

Less than a metre from the bottom of dried-up Avis Dam on the outskirts of Windhoek, chirping little red and black balls of fluff seem to hover above the fresh greenery. Every so often they settle down on the taller stalks, just to fly up again after a short while. The colourful display is staged by numerous Red Bishop males which started to breed after the first rain and the subsequent appearance of long grasses and other plants.

Gondwana Collection Namibia wants to invite senior citizens in Southern Africa to take full advantage of our special offer for the young-at-heart! All Gondwana card holders over the age of fifty (50) have the opportunity to book two nights at any Gondwana Collection property, and receive a consecutive third night for free!

I’m always inspired when driving around Namibia, a country that holds such an important place in my heart. Something that I always notice on my journeys is how innovative Namibians are. I recently became familiar with a new term – ‘upcycling’. Unlike recycling, which enables you to reuse the raw material again, upcycling refers to creatively reusing discarded objects to produce something different with added value. And we Namibians are so good at it.

The Namibia Professional Hunting Association (NAPHA) has presented its 2019 Conservationist of the Year Award to the 35 participants in the Namibia’s Black Rhino Custodianship programme for their selfless dedication to the cause. The custodians, many of them NAPHA members, are 25 commercial farmers and private companies as well as ten communal conservancies.

If you’re in the tourism industry, you are often asked how Namibian tourism is doing in the present economic climate, with factors like our three-year drought and current financial woes. The questions are usually asked with the hope that reassurance will be given, conveying a message that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. And, yes, there is light. Despite a slight decline in tourism in the last two years and the challenges that we are presently faced with, visitors continue to stream into the country.

The first Abidjan Green Arts Biennale, an art event in the Banco National Park in the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, focused on transient works of art by international artists in the midst of a rainforest. Deciphering the forest instead of clearing it. The idea is to create, while sensitizing to the protection of the environment. From 25 November to 10 December 2019 he invited artists from all over the world to Côte d'Ivoire, including Namibian-born Imke Rust.

The Bank of Namibia kept its repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent this month. Namibia’s Inflation stood at 2.5 percent at the end of November (October: 3.0%), the national statistics authority announced just before the summer break. Local economists called on the BoN to lower its repo rate in early 2020 due to the low inflation rates. The ancestral land commission submitted its interim report to President Hage Geingob this month. The report has not been made public. The final report must be submitted end of March 2020.

Gondwana Collection’s newest lodge opens doors to tourism in northern Namibia. A grand entrance is apt for momentous occasions like this one, when a major lodge group moves into the area north of Etosha National Park that has never featured prominently on the tourist map. Dubbed ‘Owamboland’ in the past, the four Owambo regions - Oshikoto, Oshana, Ohangwena and Omusati - are home to the largest ethnic group in Namibia, the Aawambo people. The four regions fit snugly to the north of the popular national park like a crown on a princess’s head.