… KfW-backed electrification programme yet to connect a single household
Industries, Mines and Energy Minister Modestus Amutse has put agencies responsible for government electrification projects on notice over persistent implementation delays, ordering them to provide firm delivery timelines and account for bottlenecks holding back electricity connections.
The directive comes as the government rolls out 94 electrification projects or priority lines across all 14 regions during the 2026/27 financial year, targeting more than 6,000 household and dwelling connections.
Speaking at a ministerial engagement on accelerating electrification project delivery in Ondangwa, Amutse warned implementing entities that budget allocations, procurement processes and completed infrastructure would no longer be treated as sufficient measures of progress if households remained without electricity.
“This is a significant national portfolio. But a long list is not the same as delivery. An allocation is not a connection. A transfer is not expenditure. A tender is not a contractor on site. And a completed distribution network is not the same as an energised household,” he said.
Amutse has given implementing entities five working days to submit dated project programmes detailing procurement, contract awards, site handovers, construction, household connections, testing and commissioning.
Each project block must have one accountable executive and project manager, while outstanding financial positions must be reconciled within 10 working days.
The ministry will also require monthly progress reports detailing physical implementation, expenditure, expected completion dates, challenges and decisions required to keep projects moving.
Amutse rejected the routine use of procurement as the main explanation for delayed electrification projects, saying bottlenecks were occurring at several stages of implementation.
“When a project is communicated in January, or formally confirmed in June, and the contractor reaches the site only in July, September or later, we cannot describe every month in between as procurement,” he said.
“Time is also lost in surveys, changing beneficiary lists, designs waiting for review, unsettled funding arrangements, and routine decisions moving through too many layers. We must identify those delays honestly.”
Amutse said surveys, designs, bills of quantities and procurement documents should be prepared as early as January and February to allow projects to enter the market as soon as legally possible.
He also singled out the KfW-supported electrification programme, saying development partner support had been available since 2022 but had yet to result in a single household connection.
“The KfW-supported electrification programme should therefore concern us. That support has been with us since 2022, yet as we meet today it has still not connected a single household. We should be able to do better,” Amutse said.
He warned that Namibia’s ability to attract further development partner support depended partly on demonstrating that available funding could be converted into completed projects.
“Donor-funded projects cannot operate on a different clock. They require the same urgency, accountable milestones and focus on the final beneficiary as projects funded directly from the national budget. If we want more development-partner support, we must demonstrate that we can turn it into delivery,” he said.
For 2026/27, implementation of the national electrification programme has been distributed across NamPower, five Regional Electricity Distributors, the City of Windhoek, Oshakati Premier Electric and the Environmental Investment Fund.
Beyond the more than 6,000 planned household and dwelling connections, the programme covers business centres, schools and public institutions, high-mast and street lighting and off-grid projects.
CENORED has committed to completing shortlisting in September and designs in October, followed by quotations and site handover in November and construction through March.
The City of Windhoek has been tasked with installing five high-mast lights before the end of the year, while Erongo RED has identified five localities covering about 800 dwellings.
Amutse also warned implementing entities against making commitments beyond their capacity.
“Do not overpromise. Tell us honestly what can be delivered, what must be phased and what support is required,” he said.
He said ordinary electrification projects should not routinely spill over from one financial year into the next, arguing that earlier planning, faster procurement and stricter implementation should enable normal projects to be completed within the financial year.
