Niël Terblanché
Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has officially endorsed the premier presentation of the Namibia Oil and Gas Conference slated for mid-August 2023.
The much-awaited event is scheduled to take place on 16 and 17 August in Windhoek.
The Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo expressed his support for the conference in a letter written to the organisers of the event.
“The Namibia Oil and Gas Conference 2023 holds great promise for fostering dialogue and collaboration among key stakeholders in Namibia and the international oil and gas value chain,” Alweendo said.
The minister also promised that he and Prime Minister Saara Kuukongelwa-Amadhila will participate in various discussions.
The conference is expected to attract more than 700 delegates and the event will be guided by the support of the Ministry, alongside hosts such as the Economic Association of Namibia (EAN), the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) as well as the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR).
Namibia is fast emerging as one of the world’s final frontiers for oil exploration with sizeable oil discoveries offshore Namibia. These accumulations are sufficient to turn the country into a major hub of upstream oil and gas exploration activities and a significant player on the global oil and gas stage.
The conference will bring together key role players in Namibia and the international oil and gas value chain, to exchange views on the potential opportunities and challenges in establishing the oil and gas sector in Namibia with the aim of forming a strategic roadmap for both the public and private sectors on how the country can best benefit from these investments.
The conference programme will explore the issues around investment opportunities, financing, value chains, and infrastructure, identify the required skills, employment creation as well as economic participation of local communities.
Jason Kasuto, Chairperson of EAN said that focus will be placed on proposals and strategies that will ensure that investments in the sector do not create an enclave around oil and gas production sites, but lead to the development of an integrated industrial base with backward and forward linkages to the rest of the economy.
“This will create sustainable jobs and contribute to the social welfare of Namibia’s people,” he said.
Shiwana Ndeunyema, the Acting Managing Director, of NAMCOR, the event’s strategic partner said: “NAMCOR endorses this conference and calls for local and international stakeholder support in every manner possible.”
