Bond with Namibia makes San Antonio stronger
The world is mourning the Feb. 4 death of President Hage Geingob of Namibia — an icon of liberation and freedom who was the chief architect of his country’s constitution and democratic establishment.
Closer to home, it’s also a time to reflect on San Antonio’s ties to Namibia and our responsibility as global citizens. We have been fortunate to foster these ties.
As a former member of the
San Antonio City Council and mayor from 2014-2017, I, Ivy Taylor, readily grasped the importance of building San Antonio’s international network of friends and business partners. I understood the importance of looking for completely new and unique international partners. As the city’s first Black mayor, I was specifically interested in forming a relationship with a city on the African continent.
As a San Antonio-based international lawyer, I, Robert Braubach, served for many years as honorary consul of Namibia, facilitating high-level connections with the government of that African nation. During the past 10 years, several Namibian ambassadors have visited San Antonio. There have also been several trade missions and safaris from San
Antonio to Namibia.
Together, we are offering our reflection on Geingob and San Antonio’s connections to Namibia.
In April 2015, San Antonio established a Friendship City agreement with the mayor of Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. The relationship quickly grew, setting a path for other governmental and business contacts. In September 2015, Geingob added San Antonio to his planned visit to Washington and New York.
Geingob was welcomed in San Antonio, and the fruits of the visit were immediately obvious. Geingob brought medical professionals and health care executives with him to witness a memorandum of understanding between Namibia and the UT Health Science Center, allowing for an exchange of nursing students and medical technicians.
Geingob also met with Dallas Safari Club representatives about ways to facilitate conservation and ethical hunting alongside growing tourism to Namibia, a nation that has enshrined environmental and wildlife protections in its constitution.
In October 2016, a San Antonio delegation traveled to Namibia to further our business, educational and cultural ties. At that time, we established a Sister City agreement with Windhoek to further cement our relationship and open the door to additional opportunities for our residents.
These valuable visits and business ties between San Antonio and Namibia have continued to expand and diversify. The Namibian ambassador, Margaret Mensah-williams, visits San Antonio several times a year to support the Sister City agreement and promote trade and investment.
We are proud of the relationship we have helped develop between San Antonio and Namibia. And we are especially proud that San Antonio has evolved to a point in which a broad global standing is important and viable.
In many ways, the city has always had a significant level of international recognition and respect. But now San Antonio has opportunities, and the responsibility, to affirmatively seek new global partners that foster economic growth and enrich residents’ lives.