Chamwe Kaira
The government has outlined key sectors for emphasis within its “Green Industrialisation” framework. James Mnyupe, the Presidential Economic Advisor, revealed this week that the focus areas for green hydrogen development include renewable energy, hardware manufacturing, natural resource valorization, clean energy utilisation, and derivatives of green hydrogen.
Within the manufacturing realm, Mnyupe highlighted opportunities in solar panel manufacturing, copper cable manufacturing, electrolyser manufacturing, and wind turbine manufacturing. He also touched upon battery materials processing and rare-earth element processing.
Mnyupe discussed the potential of the blue economy and food processing, emphasising the need for further exploration in seaweed farming and large marine resource utilisation. Additional industries identified encompass flat glass and aluminum production, with synthetic fuel and green fertiliser production being deemed as potential areas for development.
These initiatives will be closely coordinated with the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) as part of the broader strategy to incubate new green industries in Namibia, aligning with the objectives of Vision 2030. Mnyupe underscored that the goal is to leverage Namibia’s inherent resources to construct a more resilient and diversified economy capable of withstanding external shocks while concurrently generating employment opportunities.
Namibia’s Green Industrialisation Agenda is actively progressing as it strives to meet the Vision 2030 objectives, driven by informed optimism, according to Mnyupe. Plans also encompass the development of a deep-water port at Angra Point within the Port of Luderitz.
Among the upcoming green industry projects are solar plants, ammonia plants, green steel plants, and hydrogen trains. Notably, a consortium led by Hyphen Technical, a hydrogen application development company, and including TransNamib Holdings Limited, the University of Namibia, CMB.TECH, and Traxtion, has secured grant funding for the development of Africa’s first dual-fuel hydrogen-diesel locomotives.
The HyRail Namibia project aims to utilise locally produced green hydrogen from the Cleanergy Solutions Namibia Green Hydrogen facility near Walvis Bay to power the hydrogen dual-fuel locomotives.
