PETROFUND CEO Nillian Mulemi has unveiled a significant expansion of the organisation’s scholarship and training programmes, positioning Namibian youth at the heart of the country’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. The announcements, made during her keynote address at the 2nd Youth in Oil and Gas Summit, carry substantial economic weight as Namibia prepares to transition into an oil-producing nation.
Speaking under the summit theme “Drilling into the Future: Empowering Youth in Namibia’s Oil and Gas Revolution,” Mulemi emphasised the critical link between developing local talent and retaining the economic value of Namibia’s oil and gas wealth. She stressed that integrating Namibians, particularly the youth who constitute over 71% of the population under 35, into the petroleum value chain is central to the National Upstream Local Content Policy.
The flagship PETROFUND NAMIBIA Oil And Gas Scholarship Programme will open for online applications from 4th August to 10th October 2025. This initiative is designed to complement the government’s free tertiary education by covering additional costs not funded by the state. It will provide fully funded scholarships for undergraduate studies in critical fields like engineering, geosciences, and paramedics at accredited SADC universities, as well as identified oil and gas TVET programmes. Postgraduate funding will support studies across the full upstream value chain – exploration, appraisal, development, production, and decommissioning – both locally and internationally.
To date, PETROFUND has already invested over N$115 million, supporting 438 Namibians across undergraduate, postgraduate, TVET, and secondary levels. Impressively, nearly 90% of its Master’s scholarship beneficiaries have secured internships or employment within the sector, demonstrating strong alignment with industry needs ahead of anticipated Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) for major projects.
Recognising the sector’s “vital economic viability” following major discoveries in the Orange Basin, Mulemi detailed aggressive on-the-job training efforts. PETROFUND has signed 10 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with leading oil and gas service companies including TechnipFMC, SBM, Subsea7, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, and SLB, as well as operators like Shell, TotalEnergies, and QatarEnergy. These partnerships have already placed more than 82 Namibians in various roles, leveraging existing national skills in geology, engineering, logistics, finance, law, and environmental management.
Mulemi framed these initiatives as essential, not optional, for achieving Namibia’s local content aspirations. “Namibia’s upstream oil and gas future will be shaped… by the youth of our country who have demonstrated willingness to lead, innovate and transform,” she declared, urging young Namibians to “Drill into YOUR FUTURE” by applying for studies, submitting CVs, and seizing the opportunities.
This comprehensive capacity-building drive represents a strategic economic investment. By rapidly scaling a skilled national workforce, PETROFUND aims to ensure that the transformative potential of Namibia’s oil and gas revolution translates into broad-based, sustainable economic impact, reducing reliance on foreign expertise and maximising in-country value retention as production nears.