Staff Writer
Namibia’s emerging oil and gas industry, green hydrogen developments and expanding mining activity could create a multi-decade construction and infrastructure pipeline that significantly exceeds what is currently reflected in monthly building approval statistics, according to Simonis Storm.
In its latest macro insights, Simonis Storm said Namibia’s position as a resource economy in transition was creating a structural demand pipeline for infrastructure and construction, with potential implications for economic growth and investment over the long term.
The research house identified green hydrogen as one of the largest prospective sources of construction demand. The Hyphen Hydrogen Energy project in the //Kharas Region is targeting 2 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity, with capital expenditure expected to exceed US$10 billion at full build-out.
Simonis Storm estimates that civil, structural and mechanical construction could account for between 35% and 40% of the project’s total capital expenditure.
This would translate into an estimated US$3.5 billion to US$4 billion in direct construction demand, equivalent to approximately N$65 billion to N$75 billion at current exchange rates.
However, Simonis Storm noted that a formal Final Investment Decision had not been taken by mid-2026.
The project’s timeline remains dependent on factors including European offtake agreements, multilateral financing and export certification requirements under the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive.
The offshore oil and gas sector is another major potential catalyst. Simonis Storm said discoveries by TotalEnergies and Shell in the Orange Basin had confirmed a significant petroleum system, with gross recoverable resources across the broader basin estimated at around 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Development activity during 2025 and 2026 has advanced studies for major infrastructure, including a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, subsea infrastructure and onshore processing and export facilities.
The research house said proposed terminal infrastructure in the Lüderitz or Walvis Bay corridor, together with electricity-grid reinforcement by NamPower to support production electrification, could result in multi-billion-dollar civil and mechanical construction programmes.
Mining is expected to provide an additional and more immediate layer of construction demand.
Simonis Storm highlighted the Langer Heinrich uranium mine, which resumed production in 2024, as well as Bannerman Energy’s Etango-8 uranium project.
It also identified the Karibib lithium district and Haib copper project as potential greenfield infrastructure opportunities, while Namdeb’s offshore diamond operations continue to generate marine and mechanical engineering expenditure.
Collectively, mining capital expenditure in Namibia is estimated at between N$15 billion and N$20 billion over the 2026 to 2030 period, according to Simonis Storm.
Their impact on the residential and commercial property market is instead expected to come indirectly through increased demand for skilled labour, supply-chain activity and higher household incomes in areas such as Windhoek, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.
