Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Namibia)

The Ministry of International Relations and Trade is a department of the Namibian government. It was established as Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Namibian independence in 1990. The first Namibian foreign minister was Theo-Ben Gurirab. The current^[update] minister is Selma Ashipala-Musavyi.

Names and portfolios

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as it was named since independence, was renamed Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation at the start of the 2015–2020 legislative period.^[1] In 2025 the Ministry of Trade and Industry was dissolved, and the trade portfolio was given to the foreign ministry, resulting in its current^[update] name.^[2]

Ministers

All foreign ministers in chronological order are:

#	Picture	Name	(Birth–Death)	Party	Term start	Term end
Minister of Foreign Affairs
01		Theo-Ben Gurirab	1938–2018	SWAPO	1990	2002[3]
02		Hidipo Hamutenya	1939–2016	SWAPO	2002	2004[4]
03		Marco Hausiku	1953–2021	SWAPO	2004[5]	2010
04		Utoni Nujoma	1952–	SWAPO	2010	2012[6]
05		Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah	1954–	SWAPO	2012[7]	2015
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
0		Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah	1954–	SWAPO	2015	2024
06		Peya Mushelenga	1975–	SWAPO	2024	2025
Minister of International Relations and Trade
07		Selma Ashipala-Musavyi	1960–	SWAPO	2025

This list is complete and up to date as of July 2025.