Staff Reporter
Joseph Mukendwa, Interim Head of the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme, emphasised that Namibia and South Africa can leverage their respective strengths to advance green industrialisation within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“For us as Namibia, as I indicated, the bigger play is green industrialisation, and I must admit that we cannot do that if we just look at Namibia developing these projects alone. It’s also important that, as we are coming here to South Africa, we talk about regional collaboration, regional integration, how Namibia and South Africa can work together and be the champions of SADC regional green industrialisation,” Mukendwa said.
Mukendwa made these remarks at the African Green Hydrogen Summit, taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, this week. According to him, Namibia and South Africa can work together to build regional value chains, create economic opportunities and position Southern Africa as a competitive producer of green products for global markets.
Video: Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme.
“If you are able to hold hands and develop projects in both these countries, I think we are in a better stance, in a better position, to be able to meaningfully create opportunities for our people and produce green products that not only the region or the African continent, but also international markets, are looking for. That way, we’ll be contributing to the global decarbonisation agenda,” Mukendwa said.
The African Green Hydrogen Summit brought together governments, development partners, investors, project developers and other stakeholders to accelerate green hydrogen, Power-to-X and associated green industrial value chains across the continent.
The summit has also seen significant new financing commitments announced for green hydrogen and green industrial development, including €20 million in EU grant funding for South Africa, with the potential to mobilise a further €200 million from KfW; an additional €37 million through the Global Gateway for South Africa; and US$20 million in reimbursable grant funding from the African Development Bank for four projects across Morocco, Egypt, South Africa and Namibia.
