Tom Alweendo

The Honourable Tom Alweendo
Tom Alweendo in 2024
Minister of Mines and Energy
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 February 2018
President	Hage Geingob
Prime Minister	Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila
Preceded by	Obeth Kandjoze
Minister in the Presidency in charge of the National Planning Commission
In office 21 March 2010 – 8 February 2018
President	Hifikepunye Pohamba Hage Geingob
Prime Minister	Hage Geingob Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila
Preceded by	Helmut Angula
Succeeded by	Obeth Kandjoze
Governor of the Bank of Namibia
In office 1 January 1997 – 25 March 2010
President	Sam Nujoma Hifikepunye Pohamba
Prime Minister	Hage Geingob Theo-Ben Gurirab Nahas Angula
Preceded by	Jaafar Ahmad
Succeeded by	Ipumbu Shiimi
Personal details
Born	(1958-03-17) 17 March 1958 (age 66) Omusheshe, Oshana Region, South West Africa (now Namibia)
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand University of Wales

Thomas Kavaningilamo Alweendo (born 17 March 1958 in Omusheshe, Oshana Region) is a Namibian politician who has been Minister of Mines and Energy since 2018. In 1997, he became the first Namibian Governor of the Bank of Namibia when he replaced Jafaar bin Ahmad of Malaysia.

In 2010, Alweendo was appointed to lead the National Planning Commission. When Hage Geingob took office as president in March 2015, he confirmed Alweendo in his position.[1] In a cabinet reshuffle in February 2018, Alweendo became Minister of Mines and Energy, swapping positions with Obeth Kandjoze.[2]

Education

Alweendo earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom.[3]

As governor of the Bank of Namibia, he maintained the Namibian dollar's linkage with the South African rand. Among some of his achievements during his tenure at the Bank of Namibia are the localization of the payments and banking systems and the establishment of the Financial Intelligence Center.[4] He also raised concerns about increasing amounts of government debt and questioned whether expenditures on education produced better results.[5][6]

In March 2022, Alweendo signed a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDol) with the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action of the Federal Republic of Germany, Robert Habeck, to collaborate on accelerating the development of Namibia's green hydrogen ambitions.[7]

References

1. Immanuel, Shinovene; Mongudhi, Tileni (20 March 2015). "Costly Democracy". The Namibian. pp. 1–2.
2. Matthys, Donald (8 February 2018). "President reshuffles Cabinet—Vice President relieved of duties". Namibia Economist.
3. "Alweendo, Thomas K." Parliament of Namibia. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
4. "Hon. Tom ALWEENDO | SACREEE". www.sacreee.org. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
5. Tom Alweendo Namibia Institute for Democracy Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
6. "Ministry of Mines and Energy - Organisational Structure". www.mme.gov.na. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
7. "Namibia: Grassroots to Benefit From Green Hydrogen". allAfrica.com. 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-07-29.