The Management Of Namibia's Foreign Policy

ABSTRACT

South Africa transferred legislative power to the Namibian authority to conduct its external relations in 1990 when the country attained its independence. Since then the country has been projecting the economic content of its Foreign Policy. Poverty eradication, human resource development, empowerment of the poor, the needy and the weak form the top priorities for Namibia's foreign policy. The foreign policy of a country draws its authority, legitimacy and mandate from many internal priorities. Its general orientation is shaped by its history, culture and social values of its people (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2004: ii). Since 1990, Namibia's foreign relations were carried out primarily as in accordance with the guidelines contained in Article 96 of the Namibian Constitution as well as Foreign Service Regulations, Manual of Operations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Missions Abroad, Trade Policy and relevant laws relating to activities of promoting Namibia abroad. The changes in the international political and economic landscape led to the formulation of a new Foreign Policy which was promulgated in 2004. This policy places renewed emphasis on economic diplomacy given the current global economic trends; these new events and the paradigm shift from earlier focus on political oriented diplomacy have placed tremendous pressure on the management of foreign relations. This is the challenge facing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its missions abroad in managing the foreign policy under the current national, regional and global dynamics. The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the evolution and the current status of the management of Namibia’s foreign policy. The study also analyzes the iii institutional capacity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and tries to identify the capacities and capabilities that are required for the effective management of the country’s foreign policy. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was used. The two methods were also used to analyze primary and secondary data collected through structured interviews with resource persons as well as literature on the subject matter. Given the nature and complexity of foreign relations, structured interviews were held with key respondents drawn from senior officials at both political and administrative levels within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry as well as the Namibia Tourism Board. As for foreign missions, the sample included two missions. South Africa and Belgium were selected for this purpose. The Namibian bilateral mission in Pretoria deals with the highest volume of trade between the two countries and with other co-operation issues. The multilateral mission in Brussels is important for Namibia as it deals with trade and development cooperation between Namibia and the European Union (EU). It also deals with Namibia bilateral relations with Belgium. The European Union is an important destination of Namibian exports and an important source of official development assistance. In addition, a sizable number of tourists coming to Namibia come from the European Union member states. Findings of the study will contribute to the debate on the implementation and management of Namibia’s foreign policy. The researcher hopes that it will generate interest and stimulate further research on the subject matter. Furthermore, it could help government to improve the management of foreign policy as well as to refine certain aspect of the policy. The study will hopefully contribute to the overall iv effectiveness of the policy management.