Biography

Teopolina Namandje is a Namibian Development Finance Practitioner with over 13 years of experience across Namibia and Sierra Leone. She served as a Technical Advisor under the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Global Fellowship at Sierra Leone’ Ministry of Health (2024–2026), where she supported key health financing reforms to advance Universal Health Coverage, including contributions to the Free Healthcare Policy, the design of the Sierra Leone Social Health Insurance (SLeSHI), and an innovative water ambulance initiative to reduce maternal mortality in hard-to-reach areas.

Previously, she worked as a Senior Transport Economist at Namibia’s Roads Authority, focusing on infrastructure financing and stakeholder engagement. Earlier, she led the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Gobabis Regional Office, supporting trade and SME development.

Teopolina holds an MPhil in Development Finance from Stellenbosch Business School and is a Mandela Washington Fellow (2019) and Africa Infrastructure Fellow (2021). She is currently a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, where her research focuses on EU-Africa health partnerships, with a particular emphasis on health manufacturing sovereignty through private sector engagement under the EU Global Gateway to strengthen Africa’ capacity to locally produce essential health products and reduce dependency on external supply chains. She summited Mount Kilimanjaro in 2025, reflecting her resilience and determination.

Fields of expertise