India’s Secretary for Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs, Dammu Ravi, has confirmed that trade and investment will be a key focus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming State Visit to Namibia, the final stop in his African tour.
Ravi highlighted the strength and scope of India–Namibia relations, noting robust cooperation in areas ranging from trade and energy to agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
“The bilateral relations are wide-ranging. The trade is US$600 million, marginally in favour of India. The investments are US$800 million, mostly in mineral resources like zinc and diamond processing,” Ravi said.
The visit will also advance a new partnership in digital payments. A key agreement on Unified Payments interoperability technology has already been signed between the Central Bank of Namibia and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and is expected to be progressed further during Prime Minister Modi’s engagements.
“Namibia is rich in natural resources and minerals. It has natural resources of uranium, copper, cobalt, rare earths in large numbers, lithium, graphite, tantalum — all these are of interest to us,” Ravi noted, adding that recent oil discoveries and Namibia’s interest in collaborating on hydrocarbons would also be on the agenda.
Ravi described the visit as “a reiteration of India’s multi-faceted and deep-rooted historical ties with Namibia” and said it would serve to further deepen cooperation between the two countries, which already collaborate across a range of sectors including environment and biodiversity, mining, healthcare, defence, education, and capacity building.
India is particularly interested in strengthening engagement in agriculture and pharmaceutical development — sectors Namibia has shown interest in expanding with Indian expertise.
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Namibia recorded a trade deficit of approximately N$71.2 million with India in March 2025, exporting goods worth N$856.8 million while importing goods totalling N$928.2 million.
Exports to India grew significantly year-on-year, rising by N$705.9 million (467%) from N$150.9 million in March 2024. Imports from India also surged by N$792.5 million (586%) from N$135.1 million over the same period.
Namibia’s exports were dominated by bulk minerals and ores, valued at N$794.3 million. Other exports included miscellaneous commodities (N$28.7 million) and iron and steel (N$15.5 million).
Petroleum products led Namibia’s imports from India, totalling N$850.3 million. These were followed by drug formulations and biologicals (N$28.4 million), and non-Basmati rice (N$8.3 million).
The increase in exports was driven largely by a spike in mineral shipments, particularly bulk ores, which grew by N$769.4 million — a year-on-year increase of over 3,200%. Miscellaneous commodity exports rose by N$28 million (4,700%), and natural stone and granite exports grew by N$6.2 million, a 295% increase.
On the import side, the sharpest rise came from petroleum products, which jumped by N$850.3 million — a staggering growth rate of 178,000%. Other notable increases included injection moulding machinery (N$8.1 million, up 32,900%) and aircraft and spacecraft parts (N$7.1 million), doubling from the previous year.
