Namibia is among five other African countries that on May 18 formally launched the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance.
The countries formally launched the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance at the first-ever Green Hydrogen Global Assembly, in Barcelona, Spain this past week, with support from the United Nations (UN) Climate Change High-Level Champions, the Green Hydrogen Organisation, the African Development Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
The grouping aims to make Africa a frontrunner in the race to develop green hydrogen, to accelerate the transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels and to shift to new energy technologies that open up access to clean, affordable energy supplies to all.
In forming the alliance, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania intend to foster collaboration on creating a sustainable enabling environment to supercharge green hydrogen development.
The alliance is now inviting more African countries to join in this effort, responding to the opportunities presented by lower-cost renewables, fast-developing electrolyser technology and signals in some major markets that green hydrogen demand is likely to emerge at scale this decade.
The founding of the alliance comes as Namibia is poised to become a leader in green hydrogen after having awarded Hyphen Hydrogen Energy a contract to develop a US$9.4-billion green hydrogen project, expected to create 15 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 permanent positions, of which 90% are to be reserved for Namibians.
Already the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group and CMB.TECH have joined forces to build Namibia’s first green hydrogen production plant at a cost of N$270.7 million.
The government is banking on green hydrogen to attract more than US$6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) which is anticipated to generate annual revenues in excess of US$800 million, while also contributing to the recently launched Sovereign Wealth Fund.
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