Namibia plans to issue a Green Bond next year with funds raised to be used for the development of green hydrogen projects in the country.
Although details of the planned issuance remain sketchy, Finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi told Bloomberg Television that government was currently working on the modalities, with definite details expected in the next 6 months.
“As government, we are still curating these projects. In the next 6 months we will have a good idea as to how much we are going to raise because government will have to go into partnership with the private sector to develop some of the key infrastructural projects that will support our ambition to develop the green hydrogen industry. At the moment, we don’t have a clear idea of the size of our issuance. Next year, we will be able to give a definite number,” he said.
“We will be issuing our own bonds, green sustainable bonds but we also have projects that are also expected to enter that market to raise capital for green hydrogen project.”
He said the government plan was aimed at attracting funds from investors looking at investing in climate related initiatives.
“We have seen a lot of resources moving toward funding climate initiatives or those that are going to reduce the carbon foot print. We believe that they will be enough interest to move into green bonds. Those in the financial markets need to decarbonize the world,” Shiimi said.
On initiatives to drive economic growth from the 1.4% projected by the Bank of Namibia, he said,”We are working on a number of initiatives believe Namibia has a lot of resources, renewable energy resources and that’s one particular area that we focusing on. The production of green hydrogen that can attract all other industries that are connected to green energy. We intend to produce green ammonia , which will feed into our agriculture.”
Shiimi said government was working on a number of initiatives to improve the growth trajectory of the Namibian economy, including its diversification.
“We have been working on our diversification strategy. We are looking at how else can we diversify from commodities because the Namibian economy has been driven by commodities and have now realized that commodities will not be able to create the jobs that we need to create an income level for our people. We looking at areas that Namibia has some competitive advantage and one of those is food production, electronic production,” he said.
