Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Namibia are not in scope for the visa brake. These governments were threatened with the imposition of visa penalties last year specifically in order to improve co-operation in the return of individuals with no right to be in the UK, as provided for by sections 70-74 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. This is distinct from the visa brake.

Since these threats, returns co-operation with all three governments has rapidly and significantly improved and returns that previously would not have been possible are now taking place. Each government now complies with the UK’s standard. Statistics on returns will be published on gov.uk as usual.

The Home Office keeps the returns cooperation of all its international partners under close and regular review and will not hesitate to take further action where needed.

The UK enjoys a warm partnership with the Republic of Namibia, built upon our shared interests of driving economic growth, building climate resilience, and promoting Commonwealth values. Namibia recently held elections in November 2024. We are exploring ministerial attendance at the Presidential inauguration in March, to meet the new administration and discuss opportunities that promote economic growth, as well as listening to Namibian views on the new Africa Approach.

The Department for Business and Trade, and UK Export Finance, has officials throughout our Embassy network in Africa to support businesses where there are commercial opportunities. Additionally, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which entered into force in June 2023, makes it simpler and more beneficial for African countries (including Tanzania and Malawi) to export goods to the UK. The UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are development-focused free trade agreements that underpin UK goods trade with Botswana, Namibia (SACUM) and Zimbabwe (ESA).

The Secretary of State has not received any representations from his international counterparts on the potential impact of the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Private Members’ Bill introduced by the Rt. Hon. Member for Warley.

In Spring 2024, the Prime Minister will host the second UK-African Investment Summit in London, fostering modern partnerships in trade and investment, to which Namibia is invited. UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, can provide finance or insurance cover to projects in Namibia, which involve UK business suppliers subject to government policy about support for the fossil fuel energy sector. The Department also has regional mining and clean energy specialists in Africa who can support projects in Namibia.

Namibia will be one of 25 selected African countries attending the UK-African Investment Summit in April 2024, a high-level event promoting UK-African partnerships in trade and investment, finance, technology, clean energy, food security, critical minerals and women's entrepreneurship. There will be a particular focus on the UK's distinctive role in supporting the economic capabilities of the future (e.g. financial sectors; renewable energy) in African countries. The summit will provide an opportunity to enhance economic cooperation, with particular interest in Namibia's strong and progressive ambitions in the green hydrogen industry, which has strong potential to attract UK investment, fitting the UK's leadership in the renewable energy sector.

African countries are amongst the least responsible for causing climate change, yet it is having a devastating impact. The UK is committed to working with African partners to drive long-term climate action; I discussed climate change when I visited Egypt in May 2023 for meetings of the African Development Bank. We will continue to work closely with the African Union Commission and Government of Kenya as Africa Climate Action Summit co-hosts and engage other partners in the run-up to and at the Summit itself.

The UK Government is at the forefront of international efforts to protect endangered animals and plants from poaching and illegal trade. The Hunting Trophies Bill is a further example of the UK's commitment to leading the way in protecting endangered animals. The UK regularly engages with counterparts in Southern Africa on these issues and engaged with Zambia and Botswana specifically regarding controls on the import and export of hunting trophies to and from the UK. More recently, in July 2022 Lord Goldsmith met the Botswanan Minister of Environment and Tourism and discussed the UK's proposal.

The Secretary of State has not discussed the poaching of rhinos in Namibia with her Namibian counterpart. However, her Ministerial team recently met with their counterparts in Namibia in advance of CBD CoP15 and discussed a range of biodiversity issues, including protected areas and species targets.

The UK is fully committed to protecting endangered animals and plants from poaching and illegal trade to benefit wildlife, local communities and the economy, and protect global security. At the recent Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES COP19) held in Panama, the UK engaged proactively in discussions with Namibia and other countries on the continued poaching and illegal trade in rhinos, fully supporting the reconvening of the Rhinoceros Enforcement Task Force which we consider to be a key instrument for addressing this issue. The illegal harvesting of wildlife has also been identified as a priority issue in Namibia and the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) under our new Biodiverse Landscapes Fund. Through this we aim to strengthen policy, legal and judicial procedure by improving the capacity of investigators and prosecutors, facilitating intelligence analysis and information sharing, supporting legislative reform, and revising sentencing guidelines for wildlife crimes.

The Economic Partnership Agreement between the UK and the Southern African Customs Union & Mozambique (South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Mozambique), provides duty-free and quota free access to the UK market for all goods originating in most countries, and supports the expansion of those opportunities. Economic ties between the UK and Namibia and Botswana are growing, building on small but solid foundations in trade and tourism. In addition, the UK's Trade Forward Southern Africa Programme, is supporting businesses in the region to grow regional and international export trade including with the UK. More information about the UK's economic, trade and investment relationships with Southern African countries are available in the Trade and Investment Factsheets and Economic Factsheets on gov.uk

The Minister of State for the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, met with His Excellency Hage Geingob, the President of Namibia and the Namibian Minister for Mines and Energy during the COP26 World Leaders' Summit in Glasgow where they discussed strengthening our bilateral relationship, trade and investment, climate change and the Commonwealth. I also met the President on 4 November. Most recently, I spoke with the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia on 26 November, when we discussed COVID, and Namibia's inclusion on the UK travel red list.