Pretoria: Namibia risks losing control of the narrative surrounding its oil and gas industry to foreign public relations firms and artificial intelligence (AI) if local communicators do not organise themselves, Bank of Namibia (BoN) Director of Communications Kazembire Zemburuka has warned.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Zemburuka made the remarks during the Effective Communicators Conference (ECC26) in Swakopmund on Wednesday while delivering a presentation on the Bank's communication strategy titled New Media: Disseminating the Narrative. "We need a champion for our sector," Zemburuka said, adding that the conference presented an opportunity to establish one.
He noted that the government had made significant progress in bringing communicators together, while state-owned enterprises had also begun responding to the changing communication landscape. However, he pointed out that the private sector was lagging behind. Zemburuka warned that if Namibia's communications sector remained fragmented, multinational companies entering the country would bring in their own public relations professionals and increasingly rely on AI to manage messaging, leaving local communicators sidelined.
He cited Namibia's coordinated communication response during the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of the level of collaboration needed as the country prepares for its energy transition. Zemburuka made the remarks while outlining the Bank of Namibia's own communication transformation, which he said had evolved from an administrative support function into a strategic role represented on the Bank's monetary policy and financial stability committees.
He explained that the Bank's communication strategy is guided by the principle that "central banks do not sell products; they sell trust," adding that its Strategic Communications Division now draws on expertise in economics, journalism, public relations, marketing, digital media, and public education.
According to Zemburuka, the Bank has progressively expanded its social media presence since 2016, moving from passive, monetary policy-focused communication on Facebook and X to active audience engagement from 2018, before broadening its digital footprint from 2019 to include LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and, most recently, a WhatsApp channel launched this year.
He also mentioned that the Strategic Communications Division received a 2024 Transparency Award in recognition of the Bank's standing as one of the world's most transparent central banks. The division was also recognised as the Bank's best-performing department that year.
Zemburuka highlighted that Namibia's digital landscape has expanded significantly, citing 2026 data indicating that the country had 2.0 million internet users by the end of 2025, representing internet penetration of 64.4 per cent, while social media audiences grew by 12.3 per cent year-on-year. He added that the Bank now produces content in local languages, provides sign language interpretation, and conducts public briefings in all 14 regions to make economic information more accessible to the public.
The conference, hosted by the Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), continues until 17 July under the theme, Communication Reconsidered: A Driving Force for Constant Progress.