Niël Terblanché
By becoming signatories to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Namibian Government and Dutch partners the country has taken another significant step towards realising the potential of the transformative green hydrogen sector for the benefit of all Namibians as envisaged in the Harambee Prosperity Plan II (HPPll).
The Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises announced the conclusion of agreements for the establishment and management of a special vessel, NH2 Fund Managers, which will expedite the government’s option to take up a 24 percent interest in the first awarded project under development by Hyphen Hydrogen Energy.
The signing of the MoU follows short on the heels of a working visit of the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte and his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen to Namibia on Monday. During the working visit the two prime ministers discussed the potential of securing solid partnerships in the production and eventual export of green hydrogen President Hage Geingob.
According to the MFPE’s statement, by signing the MoU the government is delivering on the vision of HPPII and the first hydrogen valley to be developed, the Southern Corridor Development Initiative (SCDI), recognised the need to strategically mobilise billions of Namibian dollars of funding in a manner that does not place additional fiscal burdens on the country.
“To raise the necessary funding, the government has sought partners to assist in its realisation and has developed relationships with the European Union (EU) as a block and the countries of the Netherlands and Germany specifically,” the statement reads.
These strategic relationships have been driven by the significant alignment between the aspirations of HPPII and the objectives of the EU, the Netherlands and Germany in driving energy transition goals.
According to the statement, NH2 Fund Managers is an infrastructure asset manager that will be established to run a fund the Namibian and Dutch governments have co-designed to enable the incubation of Namibia’s Synthetic Fuels Sector.
SDG Namibia One is a bespoke blended financing infrastructure fund, which will look to raise money from local institutional investors and investors from around the world to develop Namibian green hydrogen projects and related infrastructure.
The establishment of SDG Namibia One will see Namibia’s Environment Investment Fund partnering with two Dutch organisations, Climate Fund Managers and Invest International.
The statement said that 100 percent of the initial funding of N$850 million is being provided as grant funding by Invest International and will be housed by the Fund.
The European Investment Bank and the Namibian Government concluded a letter of intent at COP27 for the provision of N$10 million, a portion of which is to be designated for investment via SDG Namibia One.
With agreements for the establishment of SDG Namibia One concluded, the Namibian Government has issued Hyphen with its Official Notice indicating the exercise of its right to take up a 24 percent equity interest in the project
