CHAMWE KAIRA
Economic and investments polices that were championed by the late President Hage Geingob like the Harambee Prosperity Plan and the Green Hydrogen Initiative will likely continue under new President Nangolo Mbumba, a leading economist said this week.
Economic analyst, Mally Likukela told Observer Money this week that these policies took many years to bring to life.
“With a lot of investments in terms of money and time have gone into crafting and developing them, so I don’t think time will be sufficient enough for him to change the trajectory or direction that Dr Hage Geingob left them. Besides, Mbumba has a very limited period of time to make any substantial policy changes. If anything at all, he may delay a few policies and programmes here and there but nothing more or extra ordinary.”
Likukela said the Green Hydrogen Initiative was well entrenched in the economic policy fabric of Namibia and that it had many people supporting it.
“So it will take an equal amount of energy and people to throw it away. So in my view I don’t think that Mbumba will make it his to-do-list to change the green hydrogen program. Green hydrogen has become a government policy and no longer a Dr Hage Geingob policy.”
Likukela said he does not foresee Mbumba making such changes anytime soon because he said there was and still is a great amount of political undertones to those appointments.
“Unless the whole political atmosphere shifts – I don’t foresee any such changes happening. Besides this is a n election year, for the sake of the party unity, such decisions will be deferred to next year or next administration.”
The Harambee Prosperity Plan aims at implementing policy programs which enhance service delivery, economic recovery such as inclusive growth and to strengthen Namibia in terms of socioeconomic challenges and preparing it for global opportunities in relation with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Namibia’s Green Hydrogen Council launched its green hydrogen strategy at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, which supports the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change, with the ultimate goal of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050.
The strategy will also allow Namibia to become a net exporter of energy by unlocking its potential to meet global demands of 10 million metric tons by 2030 while playing a pivotal role in energy security for the region.
