Windhoek: Namibia has increased rural water supply coverage from 83.5 per cent to 84.9 per cent, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah announced on Wednesday during the 2026 State of the Nation Address. Nandi-Ndaitwah also revealed that 94 new boreholes were completed, while 137 water-supply systems are installed, and 51 boreholes rehabilitated.

According to Namibia Press Agency, in the same period of the 2025/26 financial year, the government constructed 55 distribution pipelines, enabling 2,886 household water connections across rural areas, Nandi-Ndaitwah noted. She further said that in November 2025, she inaugurated the N.dollars 250 million Ohangwena II Wellfield, funded by the African Development Bank.

Other major projects she highlighted include the Omundaungilo-Omutsegwonime Pipeline, the Rundu Water Treatment Plant Extension, and the Naute-Keetmanshoop Pipeline Replacement Project. 'As the host of the headquarters for the Global Water Project Organisation, Namibia will have an opportunity to learn more for the country's benefit,' Nandi-Ndaitwah maintained.

She also revealed that a total of N.dollars 1.28 billion was invested to support veterans of the national liberation struggle and the dependents of deceased veterans, with key interventions including gratuities and welfare grants totalling N.dollars 982 million, funeral assistance, medical support, individual veterans projects, and psychosocial support.

Disability programmes, she said, reached 217 students through the Education Support Programme and assisted 1,940 beneficiaries with severe disabilities. In the period under review, Nandi-Ndaitwah stressed that indigenous Minority Communities received targeted support including food programmes, tuition, accommodation, allowances, burial support, and the issuance of 24,959 national documents to date.

The president also highlighted progress in fisheries, transport and logistics, including new roads, ongoing railway upgrades, and the training of young engineers and technicians in the transport sector.