For Solomon Ewanehi, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Solewant Group, Namibia’s emerging oil industry represents far more than the promise of crude production. It is an opportunity to build people, companies, technology and industrial capacity that can continue creating value long after individual oil fields decline.
Ewanehi made the case at the Namibia Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition 2026 in Windhoek, where he delivered a keynote address titled, “From Decision to Dividend: Making Namibia’s Oil Work for Namibians.”
His message centred on a question he believes should shape Namibia’s petroleum journey: what will the country’s oil produce for Namibia beyond barrels and government revenue?
For Ewanehi, the answer should include engineers, technicians, entrepreneurs, internationally competitive companies, infrastructure, technology and industries capable of creating value for generations.
“A discovery tells us what exists beneath the ground. A dividend tells us what that discovery creates above the ground,” he said.
The argument reflects a philosophy that has shaped Solewant Group’s own development over the past 26 years. The company began in Nigeria as an indigenous business focused on pipeline coating before expanding its capabilities into asset protection, specialty coatings, pipe and metal technologies, engineering and technical training.
Ewanehi used that experience to urge Namibia to prepare for its petroleum future before large-scale production begins. According to him, the period between discovery and major development is not a waiting period but an opportunity to build the capabilities that will determine how much value remains in the country.
He noted that once major projects move into execution, engineering specifications are established, procurement packages are defined, suppliers are qualified and contracts are awarded. By then, companies and workers that have not prepared may find it difficult to participate.
His prescription is for Namibia to begin now by developing engineers and technicians, qualifying local suppliers, establishing certification and quality systems, creating financing mechanisms and structuring partnerships that deliver genuine technology transfer.
“Local content must begin before first oil,” he said.
Learning from Africa’s experience
One of Namibia’s advantages, Ewanehi argued, is that it is entering the petroleum industry with the benefit of hindsight from other African producers.
Nigeria has produced oil for more than five decades, while Angola, Ghana and Mozambique have also developed significant petroleum industries. Their experiences, he said, provide lessons Namibia can study without having to repeat every mistake.
Ewanehi stressed that Namibia should not simply copy Nigeria or any other oil-producing country. Instead, it should examine what worked, understand what failed and adapt relevant lessons to its own economy and institutions.
Among the lessons he highlighted is the distinction between local participation and genuine local capability.
Awarding contracts to indigenous companies, he said, does not automatically create sustainable technical capacity if those businesses remain dependent on imported technology and expertise. Similarly, training workers without creating opportunities for them to apply their skills does not produce lasting industrial capability.
He also pointed to access to finance as a major factor, noting that technically capable companies may still struggle to participate in large projects if they cannot secure working capital, guarantees or financing for equipment and project execution.
For Namibia, he said, the advantage is the ability to anticipate these challenges before major petroleum projects reach full execution.
“Hindsight from elsewhere can become foresight for Namibia,” he said.
From oil to an industrial economy
Ewanehi believes Namibia should avoid viewing petroleum as an isolated sector. Instead, the country should consider the wider industrial ecosystem that can emerge around oil and gas development.
He identified ports, logistics, power, water, fabrication, engineering, maintenance, asset integrity, coatings, technical education and manufacturing as areas where petroleum investment could create wider economic opportunities.
A capability developed to protect a petroleum pipeline, for example, could also be used to protect water infrastructure. Welding skills developed for oil and gas could support mining and other industries, while inspection and engineering capabilities could serve energy, water, ports and manufacturing.
In this model, the oil industry becomes an “industrial classroom” where companies and workers develop capabilities that can later be deployed across the wider economy.
The approach also aligns with Solewant’s own evolution. According to Ewanehi, the company’s initial focus on pipeline coating eventually opened opportunities in other areas of asset protection and industrial services.
“Capability compounds,” he said, explaining that one project can qualify a company for another, while one technology partnership can create knowledge that remains within an organisation for decades.
Human capital at the centre
For Ewanehi, however, industrial development cannot be separated from human capital.
He argued that equipment can be purchased, factories constructed and technology licensed, but sustainable capability has to be learned, practised, certified and continuously improved.
That philosophy is reflected in Solewant’s establishment of the Solewant Energy Training Institute, which the company sees as part of its broader investment in technical capacity.
Ewanehi believes training should begin with the capabilities an economy expects to require over the next decade and then work backwards to identify the necessary competencies, certification, employment opportunities and experience.
“Industrial equipment can be imported. Industrial capability cannot,” he said.
For Namibia, this means ensuring that technical education and workforce development are linked to the requirements of its emerging petroleum industry and the wider economy.
Looking beyond Namibia
Ewanehi also sees the opportunity in regional terms.
Namibia’s Atlantic ports, emerging petroleum industry, mining sector and renewable-energy potential, he said, give it an opportunity to develop capabilities that can serve not only the domestic market but the wider Southern African region.
He pointed to South Africa’s engineering, manufacturing and financial capabilities, Angola’s decades of offshore petroleum experience and the infrastructure and mining requirements of countries such as Botswana and Zambia.
Nigeria, he added, brings decades of experience in oil production, local content and indigenous capacity development.
Rather than treating these countries only as competitors, Ewanehi argued that African countries could combine their strengths to develop regional value chains.
The ambition should therefore move from local participation to local capability, regional competitiveness and eventually African exports.
The infrastructure opportunity
Ewanehi’s argument extends beyond petroleum.
He pointed to Africa’s rapidly growing population and urbanisation as drivers of significant demand for electricity, water, housing, transport, communications and industrial infrastructure.
The implication, he said, is that Africa is entering a major infrastructure build-out, creating opportunities across interconnected sectors.
Power requires generation, transmission, distribution, storage and meters. Water infrastructure requires energy, pumps, pipes, electrical systems, automation and maintenance. Gas can support electricity generation, industrial heat and feedstock, while ports and pipelines connect resources to markets.
For this reason, he argued that Africa should not approach power, gas, water and industry as completely separate sectors.
Namibia, he said, is particularly well positioned because it possesses both emerging hydrocarbon resources and significant renewable-energy potential.
He described Africa’s energy future as one requiring both “molecules and electrons”, with oil and gas continuing to perform important economic functions alongside solar, wind, hydro, storage and other technologies.
Four dividends from petroleum
Ewanehi ultimately identified four possible dividends from Namibia’s petroleum development.
The first is the fiscal dividend : axes, royalties and government revenue.
The second is the industrial dividend: companies, factories, infrastructure, technology and supply chains.
The third is the human dividend : engineers, technicians, managers, entrepreneurs and institutions.
The fourth is what he described as the African dividend, which would emerge when capabilities developed in Namibia become strong enough to create value across the continent.
That final dividend reflects the broader ambition behind his message: Namibia should not simply seek to retain a percentage of petroleum contracts locally. It should develop companies that can meet international standards and eventually compete beyond its borders.
From Solewant’s journey to Namibia’s future
Solewant’s journey provides Ewanehi with a practical reference point for that vision.
From its beginnings in pipeline coating in Nigeria 26 years ago, the company has expanded its capabilities through investments in plants, laboratories, technology, engineering, quality systems and people.
Its experience, according to Ewanehi, demonstrates that industrial capability develops progressively.
The same principle, he believes, can guide Namibia as it moves from petroleum discovery towards production and broader economic development.
The real test, therefore, will not simply be how many barrels Namibia eventually produces or how much revenue the government collects.
It will be what those barrels produce above the ground.
For Ewanehi, that means engineers who can compete internationally, companies that can execute major projects, technology that remains in the country, institutions that become stronger and industries capable of surviving beyond the petroleum cycle.
“Oil fields eventually decline. Human capability can compound for generations,” he said.
That is the central idea behind his vision for Namibia , and, by extension, the model Solewant is seeking to build across Africa: turning natural resources into capabilities, capabilities into industries, and industries into lasting economic value.