With a ceremony at the residence of the German Ambassador Dr Hutter, German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group (GAFTAG) led by Lieutenant Colonel Lutz Beirich bid farewell on 2 December 2025 after the completion of 33 years of service in Namibia. GAFTAG began its work in January 1992 with the aim to provide professional support for the reorganisation and development of the Namibian Defence Forces (NDF) by German military experts (initially four, later six experts) immediately after Namibia’s independence.

The GAFTAG's most important projects were the construction of an ammunition destruction facility near Walvis Bay (2001-2008), a field hospital (2009-2020) with a laboratory, operating theatre, intensive care unit and X-ray facility (2009-2020), a medical training facility with a classroom building and accommodation (2013-2016), a vocational training centre with a motor vehicle training workshop and driving school (2017-2024), and a mobile command post for joint exercises by SADC states (2021-2025). During the Covid-19 pandemic, an Ukrainian transport aircraft brought in 2021 urgently needed medicines, masks and other medical equipment from the German Armed Forces to Namibia.

Since 1992, a total of around 800 million NAD (680 million NAD from Germany and 120 million NAD from Namibia) has been invested in projects implemented for Namibia with the help of GAFTAG. This amount does not include the costs for the approximately 50 military experts sent by Germany over the entire period, each of whom spent several years in Namibia with their families.

At the farewell ceremony, German Ambassador Dr Hutter said:

“For decades, the German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group (GAFTAG) has been an important pillar of bilateral cooperation between Germany and Namibia. Well-equipped and capable national armed forces are an essential feature of any sovereign state. We Germans are experiencing this in these times in our own country. Germany is proud to have successfully supported the Namibian Defence Forces in this important task over many years. We hope that after the withdrawal of GAFTAG, the Namibian Defence Forces will continue to operate the jointly created infrastructure on its own responsibility and will continue to benefit from its immediate practical advantages for many years to come.”

GAFTAG will complete its mission in Namibia in 2025 as planned and scheduled. The German Defence Attaché accredited to Namibia, based in Pretoria, will continue to pay the country regular visits in the future to keep abreast of the ongoing use of the projects.