26 Oct 2023
Namibia and the European Union have assured cooperation with each other in the transition towards green energy, which will not only reduce CO2 emissions but will lead to green industrial development.
During the first-ever EU-Namibia Business Forum (ENBF), which took place in Brussels, Belgium on 24 and 25 October 2023, Namibia presented itself as an emerging and prospective green hydrogen hub as well as a resilient, stable, and reliable supplier of critical raw materials, such as lithium.
According to the REPowerEU project, the European Union estimates that it will require 20 million tons of clean hydrogen by 2030, half of this has been earmarked for imports from trusted jurisdictions, such as Namibia.
Namibia is on the brink of developing a huge green hydrogen project outside the port of Lüderitz and recently large deposits of a critical mineral, lithium was found. Lithium is a vital component of batteries in electric vehicles.
President Hage Geingob told the ENBF, which attracted more than one hundred business representatives from Europe and Namibia, that his government had decided that Namibia will not export raw minerals anymore. “We are no longer going to export raw minerals. Together with our partners from Europe, we are dedicated to improving the sustainability of our extractive industry and developing local processing, refining, recovery, and recycling capacity in Namibia,” Geingob said.
On Wednesday, 26 October the three-day Global Gateway Forum started in Brussels, to discuss concrete climate actions and energy transition. President Geingob and his delegation also attended the forum. Geingob held talks with EU-Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and signed a strategic partnership roadmap. It will guide the cooperation until 2025.
In November 2022, at the COP27 in Egypt, Von der Leyen and Geingob, signed a memorandum of understanding on green hydrogen and sustainable raw materials value chains, making Namibia the first country in Africa to establish a strategic partnership with the EU on critical raw materials and green hydrogen. This has resulted in the roadmap signed this month.
The European Commission committed one million Euros in support of Namibia's green industrialisation, Von der Leyen announced in Brussels.
Brigitte Weidlich
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