Yesterday, on the eve of the Global Gateway Forum, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of Namibia Hage Geingob endorsed the roadmap for the EU–Namibia strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials value chains and renewable hydrogen, supported by €1 billion in investments by the EU, its Member States and European financial institutions.
Ursula von der Leyen, Commission President, said: “Thanks to its abundant renewable energy potential, Namibia is becoming a front-runner in the green hydrogen space. The EU is proud to be a partner in this transformative journey towards green industrialisation. Together we can further decarbonise our economies, create jobs and ensure a more prosperous and greener future for our societies.”
Hage Geingob, President of Namibia, said: “Namibia recognises that its world-class renewable energy resources provide a strong foundation upon which we will build a sustainable and impactful green industrial base.
“Namibia is also cognisant that to fully capture the opportunity at hand, we will have to mobilise fit for purpose capital that appropriately prices risk in order to optimise the cost of said capital. This is a key element that will form the cornerstone of this transformative partnership with the EU.”
Roadmap for the years 2023 to 2025
In November 2022, Namibia and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a strategic partnership on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains and Renewable Hydrogen. The operational roadmap, launched and endorsed today and for the upcoming period 2023–2025, details the concrete actions in which the partnership will advance its goals, in close cooperation with EU and Namibia financial and private sector stakeholders.
The actions in the roadmap follow the six pillars of the Memorandum of Understanding:
- Integration of value chains, including by working with the industry to identify, promote and facilitate cooperation in the exploration and commercial development of critical raw material projects.
- Cooperation to leverage environmental, social and governance criteria, including by mapping and assessing abandoned mines and supporting Namibia in using Earth Observation and remote sensing methods for resource exploration, land use planning and management.
- Mobilising funding for soft and hard infrastructure, including for selected mining, refining and mineral green processing projects (water, rail, renewable energy) and for the upgrade of main transport corridors (port, rail, roads).
- Capacity building, training and skills development, including identifying training and skills needs along the raw material and green hydrogen value chains and enhancing the relevant technical and vocational training offer by Team Europe in cooperation with the industry.
- Co-operation on research and innovation, including facilitating studies and joint research projects and research and business networking along the entire critical raw material value chain.
- Regulatory alignment, including supporting Namibia in developing a national strategy for critical raw materials and enacting a synthetic fuels act to create an enabling environment for hydrogen and synthetic fuels industry, and ensure compatibility with international green fuels, certification and standards.