PRETORIA — President Cyril Ramaphosa and Namibian President Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will co-chair the Fourth Session of the South Africa-Namibia Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Pretoria on Friday, 17 July 2026, as the two neighbouring countries seek to strengthen economic cooperation and accelerate the implementation of long-standing bilateral commitments.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah is expected to arrive in South Africa on Thursday, 16 July, before returning to Windhoek the following day, according to a statement issued by the Namibian Presidency on Wednesday. The visit will culminate in the leaders jointly presiding over the Commission’s fourth session.
The summit follows a week of high-level engagements, beginning with a Senior Officials’ Meeting on 14 and 15 July, followed by a Ministerial Session on 16 July. The ministerial meeting is being co-chaired by Namibia’s Minister of International Relations and Trade, Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola.
Economic cooperation takes centre stage.
Opening the Senior Officials’ Meeting in Pretoria, South Africa’s Co-Chair, Ambassador Tebogo Seokolo, said both Heads of State had made it clear that the economic dimension of the bilateral relationship must receive greater attention.
He urged officials to identify high-impact projects capable of boosting trade, investment and industrial development while accelerating the implementation of commitments made during the Third BNC Session in Windhoek in October 2023.
Seokolo acknowledged that progress on several agreed initiatives had been slower than anticipated, underscoring the need to inject new momentum into the bilateral programme of cooperation.
Energy and mining featured prominently in the discussions. Seokolo highlighted the Orange Basin, which stretches across the maritime boundary between the two countries, as a strategic area for collaboration in oil, gas and mineral development. He also congratulated Namibia on its recent offshore oil and gas exploration successes, describing them as a significant opportunity for regional economic growth.
More than 150 agreements underpin bilateral relations
According to the Namibian Presidency, South Africa and Namibia’s relationship is now governed by more than 150 bilateral agreements covering political, diplomatic, legal, economic, social, defence and security cooperation. This marks a significant increase from the 74 agreements recorded ahead of the Third BNC Session in 2023, reflecting the expanding scope of cooperation between the two countries.
The Bi-National Commission was established in Windhoek in November 2013 and has since convened in Pretoria in 2016, Windhoek in 2023 and now returns to Pretoria for its fourth session under the agreed rotational arrangement.
The Commission operates through four standing committees covering diplomacy, economic cooperation, social affairs, and defence and security.
Running alongside the summit will be the South Africa-Namibia Business Forum, taking place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand under the theme: Driving Regional Industrialisation, Investment and Sustainable Growth through Strategic South Africa-Namibia Partnerships.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) said the forum will bring together government leaders, investors and business representatives from both countries to explore opportunities for deeper economic integration.
The dtic’s Acting Deputy Director-General for Exports, Willem van der Spuy, said the bilateral relationship should increasingly focus on implementing the Southern African Customs Union Industrialisation Strategy and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He said closer cooperation could unlock regional value chains, stimulate manufacturing and exports, and create jobs across sectors including agriculture, agro-processing, clothing, textiles and footwear.
The forum is being co-hosted by the dtic, Namibia’s Ministry of International Relations and Trade, the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board, and the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Outstanding commitments remain in focus
Despite the growth in bilateral cooperation, the Fourth Session will also confront a significant implementation backlog.
At the conclusion of the Third BNC Session in Windhoek in October 2023, Ramaphosa revealed that ministers had approved more than 170 decisions covering multiple areas of cooperation. They were also tasked with finalising a cooperation agreement on investment, industrial development, cross-border value chains and infrastructure by March 2024.
That deadline has since passed, with several of those commitments now expected to feature prominently during this week’s discussions.
Ramaphosa also announced plans in 2023 to deepen cooperation in attracting private sector investment and to establish a South Africa-Namibia Business Council as a platform for structured public-private collaboration. The status of that initiative is expected to come under scrutiny during the Ministerial Session.
South Africa and Namibia remain among each other’s most important trading partners and share membership of both the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Officials say several new agreements and memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed when the two Presidents meet on Friday. Discussions are expected to cover trade, infrastructure, border management, energy, disaster management, defence and security, as well as regional and continental cooperation.
With the Commission now entering its fourth session, attention is likely to focus less on announcing new priorities and more on whether both governments can deliver measurable progress on commitments that have accumulated over the past decade.
For observers, the real test of this year’s summit will be whether it produces clear, time-bound implementation plans capable of translating political commitments into tangible economic outcomes for both countries.
