Namibia follows a largely independent foreign policy, with strong affiliations with states that aided the independence struggle, including Nigeria, Libya, and Cuba.
In 1999 Namibia signed a mutual defence pact with its northern neighbour Angola. This affected the Angolan Civil War that has been ongoing since Angola's independence in 1975. Namibia's ruling party SWAPO wanted to support the ruling party MPLA in Angola to fight the rebel movement UNITA, whose stronghold is in southern Angola, bordering Namibia. The defence pact allowed Angolan troops to use Namibian territory when attacking UNITA.
The alliance between SWAPO and MPLA has deep roots and began as both Angola's and Namibia's ruling parties sought independence during the mid twentieth century and into the Angolan Civil War. In Angola, the leftist movement MPLA was fighting the rightist movement UNITA, which was supported by South Africa. In Namibia, SWAPO, then being a rebel movement, was fighting for independence from South Africa along the Angolan border. Angola allowed SWAPO to establish training and refugee camps for Namibians and PLAN (People's Liberation Army of Namibia) fighters. As MPLA and SWAPO shared a common ideological ground, and had a common enemy in South Africa, they came to cooperate.
The Angolan civil war resulted in a large number of Angolan refugees coming to Namibia. At its peak in 2001 there were over 30,000 Angolan refugees in Namibia. The calmer situation in Angola has made it possible for many of them to return to their home with the help of UNHCR, and in 2004 only 12,600 remained in Namibia.
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Most of them reside in the refugee campOsire north of Windhoek.
Angola has an embassy in Windhoek and consulates-general in Oshakati and Rundu.
Botswana–Namibia relations are friendly, with the two neighbouring countries cooperating on economic development. Botswana gained independence from Britain in September 1966. Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence.
In 2007, the two governments signed an agreement which expanded air travel between the two states.[90] In December 2009, Namibia's Foreign Minister, Marko Hausiku met with Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin and noted the economic, science, technical and cultural agreements in place between the two countries and expressed a desire to improve the trade relations.[91]
Ethiopia is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.
In 1960, Liberia and Ethiopia brought litigation against apartheid South Africa in the International Court of Justice to end its occupation of Namibia.[92] As part of Liberia's support for Namibia's liberation struggle, many Namibian students received Liberian passports which helped them study abroad.
As of July 2008, a total of 5,900 Namibia Defence Force troops had been rotated through Liberia as part of the United Nations Mission in Liberia.[93] Namibia maintained a battalion of about 800 personnel in Grand Cape Mount county for several years, for most of the period part of UNMIL Sector 2, headquartered at Tubmanburg. In May 2005, Namibian troops were accused of sexual exploitation of young girls and women; three Namibian soldiers were sent home from the force after a United Nations investigation found them guilty of "engaging in sexual activity with civilians", which is against United Nations rules for peacekeepers.[94]
Liberia is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.
Namibia is accredited to Liberia from its high commission in Abuja, Nigeria.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 March 1990[95]
Namibia and Nigeria have binding bilateral agreements, but as of 2014, trade between the two countries was low. In March 2014, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan visited Namibia for Namibia's 24th independence day celebrations. The two countries also discussed establishing an oil refinery in Namibia for Nigerian oil.[96]
Upon independence in 1990, Namibia's economy was still tied to South Africa's.[97] To this day, the economy of Namibia is still closely contacted to South Africa through both institutional relationships (Southern African Customs Union, for example) and privately owned mining concessions.[98] The South African rand is still legal currency within Namibia, while the Namibian dollar is not so in South Africa and the currencies are traded on par locally.
Namibia has a high commission in Pretoria and a consulate-general in Cape Town.
The ruling parties of Namibia (since independence in 1990) and Zimbabwe (since independence in 1980) have been close since pre-independence days, as both were anti-colonial movements against white-minority governments.[100] Namibia sent troops in the Namibia Defence Force to the Democratic Republic of the Congo alongside Zimbabwe in a SADC coalition to support President Joseph Kabila.[101]
Canada's relationship with Namibia began in 1977 when Canada joined the Western Contact Group, a joint diplomatic effort of France, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and West Germany to bring an internationally acceptable transition to independence for Namibia. In 1990 official relations started; Canada has dispatched an Honorary Consul to Windhoek.[102]
Canada is one of the main destinations for Namibian refugees. Together with Botswana and Denmark, Canada has been granting asylum to people fleeing Namibia in the aftermath of the Caprivi conflict, and particularly the Caprivi treason trial that followed in which the Namibian government was accused of human rights violations.[103] Only in 2010 Canada has changed its standpoint and is now considering the CLA to be a terrorist organisation that has "attempted to usurp an elected government". Nonetheless, Canada received a steady inflow of Namibian immigrants who seek economic betterment under the pretense of humiliation and harassment in Namibia. In 2011 more than 1,000 Namibians entered Canada. Three-quarters of them applied for refugee status, but only a few were successful.[104]
Canada is accredited to Namibia from its high commission in Pretoria, South Africa.
Namibia is accredited to Canada from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.
Since independence, Namibia and Cuba have held joint meetings every two years for Economic, Scientific-Technical and Commercial Cooperation. In 2005, it was reported that 1,460 Cuban professionals had worked in Namibia, including 208 in 2005.[105]
Mexico recognized and established diplomatic relations with Namibia on 17 April 1990. In 1993, Mexico opened an embassy in Windhoek, however, the embassy was closed in 2002.[106]
Mexico is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.[107]
Namibia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.[108]
U.S.-Namibian relations are good and continue to improve. Characterized by shared democratic values, commitment to rule of law, and respect for human rights, the bilateral relationship has been strengthened through trade ties and U.S. assistance programs. Namibia has seized opportunities created by AGOA. Currently the SACU countries and the U.S. are negotiating a Trade, Investment and Development Cooperation Agreement, scheduled to be signed in 2008. Namibia has been included in President Bush's International Mother and Child HIV Initiative and the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) bilateral presence in Namibia has been extended until 2010. In addition to the embassy, the Centers for Disease Control, Peace Corps, and the United States Department of Defense have offices in Windhoek.
Governmental relations were first established the day after Namibia's independence, but relations with Namibian independence movements date back to the 1960s.[109] China and Namibia have developed close economic relations, with trade increasing twofold between the two countries from 2003 to 2006. During a February 2007 visit, Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged Namibia "RMB 1 billion of concessional loans, 100 million US dollars of preferential export buyer's credit, RMB 30 million yuan of grants and RMB 30 million of interest-free loans..."[109]
Relations began between SWAPO and the Indian government prior to independence. In 2010, relations were described by Indian officials as "warm and cordial". India has been involved in training the Namibian Air Force and bilateral trade in 2008–09 stood at $80 million.[110]
Both countries were once part of the British Empire and before Namibia achieved its independence, Malaysia has contributed to some operations in Namibia by sending a group of soldiers to help monitor the Namibian elections and peace process.[113] Today, the relations are much more focused in economic cooperation.
Finland recognised Namibia on 21 March 1990. Both countries established diplomatic relations on the same day, and Namibia was represented in Finland through its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2015 Namibia has an embassy in Helsinki. Finland has an embassy in Windhoek and an honorary consulate in Walvis Bay.[115]
Finland has stated it is a staunch supporter of Namibian independence.[116] The Finnish Government has provided assistance in the sectors of forestry, water, environment and health.[117] Namibia's exports to Finland increased from N$810 million in 2004 to over N$1 billion (approximately 90 million EUR) in 2007.[118]
In June 2008, Prime Minister of Namibia Nahas Angula visited Finland.[119]
First contacts between people of the two countries took place when German missionaries were hired by the London Missionary Society to commence working in Southern Namibia during the late 18th and early 19th century.[120] In the 1880s the German Empire came to what is now Namibia as a colonizing power, creating German South-West Africa. The German colonial rule was marked by tensions and led to the genocide of the Herero and Namaqua people from 1904 to 1907, which resulted in the deaths of 65,000 Herero (80 percent of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population). The colony was ruled by Germany until 1915 when it was conquered by troops from the Union of South Africa.
During South African rule, German was one of the three official languages of Namibia, the others being Afrikaans and English. Likewise during Apartheid rule, West Germany maintained a consulate in Windhoek despite United Nations resolutions calling for the isolation of South Africa.
Namibian independence in 1990 coincided with German reunification, resulting in an initially slow development of diplomatic relations. However, in both 1989 and 2004 the German government acknowledged its responsibility for Namibia as a priority partner country.[121] Since then German Development minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul visited Namibia, asking the country for forgiveness of the past.[122] Today, not least due to substantially improved co-operation and exchange, as well as by fate of the permanent presence of the "German tribe in Namibia", the two countries have mostly learnt to a new dialogue, which at times also still stagnates.
On 21 December 2011 North Macedonia and Namibia established diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level when the Ambassadors of both countries to the UN, Pajo Avirovic and Wilfried Emvula respectively, signed the joint communiqué. With the establishment of diplomatic relations, Namibia recognised Macedonia under its constitutional name the 'Republic of Macedonia' as opposed to its provisional name the 'former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'; in doing so Namibia became the 133 country to recognise Macedonia's constitutional name.[123]
North Macedonia does not have an accreditation to Namibia.
Namibia is accredited to North Macedonia from its embassy in Vienna, Austria.
Relations between Namibia and Russia were considered "excellent" in 2006 by then-Namibian Minister of Education Nangolo Mbumba, while Russia expressed a desire for even stronger relations, particularly in the economic field. Also in 2006, the Namibia-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was officially opened during a visit by Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev to Windhoek. During said visit, the Minister said Russia was interested in investing in oil, hydro-electric power and tourism.[124] In 2007, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov held discussions with Namibian Deputy Prime Minister Nahas Angula and President Hifikepunye Pohamba in regards to the possibility of developing Namibia's significant uranium deposits with an aim towards creating a nuclear power plant in the country.[125] In 2008, Trutnev returned to Namibia, this time to Swakopmund, to meet at the third annual Intergovernmental Commission. Top foreign ministry official Marco Hausiku and his deputy Lempy Lucas represented Namibia in discussions with Trutnev.[126]
Diplomatic relations between Namibia and Serbia were officially established in 1990.[127] Serbia, then part of Yugoslavia, provided education, training, and financial support for SWAPO members during the entirety of the South African Border War, and the two countries have shared close relations ever since.[128] During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Namibia, which was then on the UN Security Council, voted with Russia and China for an immediate cessation of NATO attacks. Namibia also strongly supports the Serbian position on the Kosovo dispute.[129]
Namibia is accredited to Serbia from its embassy in Vienna, Austria.
Serbia is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.
^"Namibia". 30 April 2022. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^"Order of Precedence". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
