Before you start

A valid employment or residence permit
Your foreign driving licence, with a certified copy
An original confirmation letter from the issuing licensing authority — not from an embassy
A sworn translation if the licence is not in English

Step-by-step

1
Request the confirmation letter from the issuing authority first
NaTIS requires an original letter from the competent licensing authority in the country that issued your licence, and expressly excludes letters from embassies, high commissions and consulates. Start this before you leave — obtaining it from abroad is the single slowest part of the process.
OnlineWho: YouWeeks, sometimes months
2
Check your licence carries the required data
The foreign licence must show vehicle and driver restrictions with the applicable category codes, plus a photograph, signature, initials, surname, licence number, date of issue, expiry date, issuing authority and country. Licences missing any of these — some older paper licences do — are refused.
In personWho: You
3
Get a sworn translation if it is not in English
A sworn translation is required for any licence not in English. Arrange it properly rather than with an informal translator; NaTIS is documentary and will not exercise judgement about a translation's provenance.
In personWho: You
4
Apply at a NaTIS office in Windhoek
Submit the originals and certified copies with your permit and passport. Fees are published by the Roads Authority. Where the physical licence card has been lost, an affidavit plus a copy may be accepted subject to ministerial approval — a slow route worth avoiding.
In personWho: You
5
Learn gravel driving before your first long trip
Most of Namibia's road network is gravel and the standard advice is to keep speeds well below what the surface seems to allow, avoid sudden steering, and expect the vehicle to move under you. Rollovers, often in rental 4x4s, are the characteristic serious accident here. Tyre pressure matters and so does slowing before corrugations, not on them.
In personWho: You
6
Plan long journeys around fuel, daylight and animals
Distances between fuel stops can be hundreds of kilometres, mobile coverage disappears between towns, and kudu and warthog on the road at dusk cause a large share of collisions. Carry water, fuel up when you can rather than when you must, and avoid driving between dusk and dawn outside towns.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Foreign driving licence and certified copy
Original confirmation letter from the issuing licensing authority
Sworn translation, if not in English
Passport and employment or residence permit
Proof of Windhoek address

Things most newcomers don’t know

Namibia will not accept an embassy letter for a licence conversion, and Botswana will. This trips up people moving within the region.

NaTIS requires the confirmation of authenticity to come from the competent licensing authority in the issuing country and explicitly excludes letters from embassies, high commissions and consulates. Botswana's equivalent process accepts certification by the embassy or consulate representing the issuing country. Someone who converted a licence in Gaborone the easy way and then moves to Windhoek discovers the requirement is materially harder, and by then the licensing authority back home is a long way away.

Source: Roads Authority Namibia; Government of Botswana

The characteristic Namibian accident is a rollover on gravel, and it happens to competent drivers.

Most of the country's road network is gravel, and gravel behaves nothing like tar under braking or sudden steering — the vehicle drifts, the correction over-corrects, and a high-bodied 4x4 goes over. This is the most common serious accident in Namibia and it disproportionately involves visitors and newcomers driving at tar-road speeds. Slow down substantially, brake in a straight line, and treat any sudden input as the hazard.

Source: community-reported; road safety guidance

A bakkie is a practical choice here rather than a style one.

Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries on earth, and any life beyond Windhoek involves gravel, long distances between fuel and no mobile coverage in between. High ground clearance, a spare wheel that is actually usable and space for water and jerrycans are functional requirements, not preferences. The second-hand market is well supplied from South Africa and pickup trucks hold their value accordingly.

Source: community-reported

Fuel, daylight and kudu are the three planning constraints on any long drive.

Fuel stops can be two hundred kilometres apart and some are unreliable; mobile coverage vanishes between towns; and large antelope on the road at dusk cause a great many collisions, with a kudu through a windscreen being a genuinely lethal event. The local practice is to fill up at every opportunity, carry water, tell someone your route, and simply not drive outside towns between dusk and dawn.

Source: community-reported