Credit: na.usembassy.gov /  July 23, 2020 . At the groundbreaking ceremony of the new U.S. Embassy Campus in Klein Windhoek is from the left the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Jenelly Matundu, the U.S. Ambassador to Namibia, Lisa Johnson, and Mayor of the City of Windhoek, Fransina Kahungu.

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES  STAFF

 U.S. Ambassador Lisa A. Johnson welcomed Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Namibia, Honourable Jenelly Matundu, and Mayor of Windhoek, Her Worship Fransina Kahungu to the site of the new U.S. Embassy Campus in Klein Windhoek for a historic groundbreaking ceremony today.  The new U.S. Embassy will provide a state-of-the-art, modern, and resilient platform for U.S. diplomacy in Namibia, according to the State Department.   Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of San Francisco, California is the design architect for the project and B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama, is the construction contractor.  The project is expected to be completed in 2023. The United States plans to invest more than $17 million in the local economy as part of the construction contract and to employ more than 2,000 Namibians to complete the project.

Ambassador Johnson called the building of a new U.S. Embassy “an investment by the United States in our 30 year relationship with Namibia,” saying the facility would be the future platform from which the two countries would partner on issues from health to trade to protecting Namibia’s wildlife for decades to come. Its design, Ambassador Johnson explained, will evoke Namibia’s beautiful landscape, featuring materials including red sandstone and light-colored limestone.  Landscaping will use exclusively indigenous trees and other plants, and the facility will make use of solar power to generate 50% of the main chancery’s power needs.

In her remarks at the groundbreaking, Ambassador Johnson highlighted how both Americans and Namibians are building the new Embassy.  The U.S. construction firm BL Harbert is already employing more than 200 Namibians on the site.  During the three years of construction, more than 2,000 Namibians will be employed at various stages.

B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama, United States  is the construction contractor of new U.S. Embassy – Namibia. Artist’s rendering of the diplomatic compound. 

Construction of new U.S. Embassy Klein Windhoek,  Namibia began in May 2020. The move-in date is planned for 2023.

Campus construction will significantly benefit the local economy, the Ambassador explained.  In addition to job creation, the U.S. construction firm currently is procuring goods and services from more than 50 Namibian companies.  The project is already injecting more than $700,000 US dollars (NAD 11.5 million) into the local economy each month.

Women Launch Their Own Tailoring Business with Support of  U.S. government-funded DREAMS project

Credit: na.usembassy.gov  /   July 14,  2020.  Looking on as Business DREAMS Girl Ester Naidila sews a face mask at the back from the left is USAID Country Representative, Dr. Randy Kolstad, Industrial Engineer at the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade, Frans Nekuma, Chief of Party DREAMS Bernadette Harases, and, U.S. Ambassador to Namibia Lisa Johnson.

In other news in Namibia-U.S. diplomacy, seven young women launched their own tailoring business with the support of the U.S. government-funded DREAMS project.  Last week, the seven entrepreneurs delivered 300 face masks to Project Hope for use in Safe Spaces around Windhoek. Safe Spaces are locations at schools or in the community where adolescent girls and young women enrolled in the DREAMS program meet to discuss matters affecting young women. Ambassador Johnson congratulated the young female entrepreneurs at the small handover ceremony at the Project Hope Namibia offices in Katatura, and said, “The DREAMS program takes a holistic approach – because our emotional, physical, and financial health are all related. This has become increasingly clear with COVID-19. I am happy to see that you are becoming successful businesswomen in mask tailoring.”