Hon. Lucia Iipumbu, Minister of Industrialisation and Trade, Republic of Namibia
In March 2020, Hon. Lucia Iipumbu assumed the position of Minister for Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) charged with the responsibility of spearheading sustainable economic development and growth through the promotion of Industrialisation to boost productive capacities and diversification of the economy and to provide clear and transparent Investment policy and legislative framework including facilitating a conducive investment environment for a private sector led economic growth and employment creation. Hon. Iipumbu is a member of Cabinet and Parliament respectively.
Prior to her current positon, from February 2018 Hon. Iipumbu served as Deputy Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development for two years with the mandate to drive economic development and promoting Namibia as the preferred investment destination to both local and foreign investors. Hon. Iipumbu also served as the Deputy Minister of Economic Planning in the Presidency for a period of three years from 2015 - 2018, together with her team, they were responsible for planning National Priorities and directing the course of National Development.
Her appointment as Deputy Minister at NPC came after her long career at the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) from 2001-2015 where she initially started as a Pension Administrator, later promoted to a Senior Benefits Administrator and eventually become the Head of Benefits Processing Unit. As an active society member and owing to her community contribution, in 2017 she was elected to the board of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in Nairobi, Kenya. She has always been an advocate of Sexual and Reproductive Health especially amongst young women, to date she stills serves as a board of the Namibia Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA).
Hon. Iipumbu’s political prominence started at the lowest structure whilst as a student at the University of Namibia, her youth activism saw her rise on a political trajectory to later serve as a SWAPO Party Youth league National Executive Committee (NEC) and taking up the position of a National Secretary for Finance and Administration for a period of 10 years. After graduating from the youth in 2012, she had gained relevant experience from the youth league structures, which became evident as the party members elected Hon. Iipumbu to the SWAPO Party Central Committee and Political Bureau which are the highest structure between congresses, her election is notable as she is one of the youngest female member to serve SWAPO Political Bureau for 5 years, the Politburo comes with great responsibility in directing SWAPO Party policies and taking decisions. Hon. Lucia Iipumbu holds a Bachelor of Administration and Master of Administration Degrees from the University of Namibia. She currently pursuing her LLB in Law.