About GEN in Namibia

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GEN partnered with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Junior Achievement Namibia (JA Namibia) in 2011 to conduct the country’s first Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) campaign. Under the theme “Leading Economic Growth,” the inaugural campaign focused on youth employment and student enterprise, galvanizing Namibia's nascent entrepreneurial community. As more organizations and institutions joined the coalition, the early editions reached tens of thousands of Namibians and planted the seeds for more than a decade of grassroots ecosystem building across the country.

As the campaign matured, it attracted high-profile champions and official recognition. Cabinet ministers began officiating GEW events, among them Nahas Angula, a former prime minister and minister of defense, and David Namwandi, a former minister of education. Both spoke during the opening ceremonies in 2013, 2014, and 2015. NUST and JA Namibia anchored the campaign, using their networks to carry the message of entrepreneurship well beyond the capital.

As GEW grew into a national platform, GEN responded by establishing GEN Namibia in 2015 to continue coordinating and building the ecosystem on a year-round basis. Founded and led by Johanna Cloete, a JA leader and a commissioner on the National Commission for UNESCO in Namibia, she served as managing director before moving into the role of board chair. Vera Njong is GEN Namibia’s current managing director. She directs the national GEW campaign, Namibia’s national Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) competition, GEN’s policy and partnership work, and programs that support founders with starting and scaling a business. GEN Namibia has secured programming support from the National Commission for UNESCO (hosted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation) and from the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST), which funded its training programs and Boost Up, an acceleration program.

A recurring highlight of GEW is inducting new members into the Namibian Business Hall of Fame. During the ceremony, GEN Namibia honors entrepreneurs who have contributed to the national economy. During the 2020 and 2021 pandemic years, GEN adapted by moving the induction ceremony online. GEN has produced its recent GEW campaigns with a widening circle of partners. Acelera Namibia and Basecamp Hub kicked off the 2024 edition with a large launch event. The Minister of Industrialization and Trade, Lucia Iipumbu, highlighted how GEN Namibia has built the ecosystem, contributing to the development of the country's economy. Celebrating women entrepreneurs has been a defining thread across recent GEW campaigns. Through a program called Zizza Makazi (“My Green Home”), GEN Namibia provided high-tech training to 150 young women across the Erongo, ǁKharas, and Kunene regions with support from the National Commission for UNESCO.

Government engagement is a consistent feature of GEN's work in Namibia. Alongside the early ministerial officiants at GEW, the affiliate has drawn support from Lucia Iipumbu's Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and worked within the mandate of the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, aligning its programming with national priorities for small and medium enterprises. Namibia has also become a regular presence at GEN's global gatherings. A delegation of 14 Namibian entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders attended GEC+Africa in Cape Town in 2024, a regional edition of GEN's Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), and Namibian representatives have participated in successive GECs as the affiliate deepened its ties to the wider GEN community.

GEN supports Namibian founders through its global programs. To help founders weather the business impacts of COVID-19, GEN extended its programming into new communities. For example, it launched a Startup Huddle chapter in 2021 in the coastal city of Swakopmund. Huddle is a community-building program that gives local founders a peer-driven forum to present real-time challenges and receive feedback from mentors and fellow entrepreneurs. Through the EWC—a global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019 that offers training, mentorship, and a share of $1 million in prizes—GEN Namibia has run a national competition that channels local winners onto the global stage. Namibia's global finalist was SunCycles Namibia (formerly Ebikes4Africa), founded by Marita Walther, a Windhoek-based venture that earned a spot in the global Top 100 in 2019 with its innovative solar-powered e-bicycles. GEN Namibia also connects founders to capital through the Namibian Business Angels Network (NABAN), which is led by board member Jesaya Hano-Oshike.

GEN maintains extensive relationships with Namibian ecosystem stakeholders, including the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade, the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology, the National Commission for UNESCO in Namibia, and institutional partners such as Acelera, Basecamp Hub, Junior Achievement, and the Namibia University of Science and Technology. GEN's work has drawn in senior figures from the country's financial sector, including Erwin Tjipuka of Standard Bank Namibia and Dr. Ester Kali of Letshego Bank Namibia, both of whom contribute to GEN Namibia’s programming. GEN has extended its reach from Windhoek to Swakopmund on the coast, to Karibib, and across the Erongo, ǁKharas, and Kunene regions through its women's training work.

In 2022, GEN Namibia was nominated for the GEN Country of the Year Award in recognition of how its leaders have advanced GEN's mission. As GEN has widened its reach, it has positioned Namibia within the broader African entrepreneurship community with its growing delegations at the GEC and GEC+Africa and the participation of the Namibian Business Angels Network in GEN’s Global Business Angel Network (GBAN). With its work grounded in a partnership model that brings together government, universities, banks, grassroots founders, and support organizations, GEN's continuing goal in Namibia is to remain focused on connecting the country's entrepreneurs with the knowledge, networks, capital, and policy support they need to start and scale.