AI regulation in Namibia (2026)

Namibia is finalising a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Bill intended to establish a governance framework for AI development and deployment, covering risks such as algorithmic bias, deepfakes, and data privacy. The bill was still in draft form as of mid-2025 and had not yet been tabled in Parliament.

A National AI Strategy was developed alongside the Readiness Assessment Report, proposing a decentralised governance structure with a National AI Council at the apex and sector-specific Technical Working Groups. Priority sectors include health, education, food security, water, energy, mining, and logistics.

The NCRST, with UNESCO support (funded by the Government of Japan), launched Namibia's first AI Readiness Assessment Report in August 2025. It assessed legal/regulatory, social, technical, educational, and economic dimensions and recommended establishing a formal national AI governance framework.

The MICT's National Digital Strategy 2025–2029 includes a policy and regulation pillar that mandates ethical safeguards for emerging technologies, finalisation of the Data Protection Bill, and the use of regulatory sandboxes for digital services including AI-related applications.

A Data Protection Bill — a key prerequisite for AI governance — was scheduled to be tabled in Parliament in September 2025. Its absence has been identified as one of the main gaps in Namibia's AI regulatory readiness.

Namibia has ratified the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection (Malabo Convention) and aligns its draft frameworks with the SADC Model Laws on data protection, cybercrime, and e-commerce, as well as the AU Continental AI Strategy.