When RWE withdrew from Namibia’s US$10 billion Hyphen Hydrogen Energy project, it did so quietly.
Three weeks later, the Ohlthaver & List Group sold its majority stake in Cleanergy Solutions Namibia to its Belgian partner.
Two unrelated exits, one foreign and one local, nevertheless raise similar questions about the pace and resilience of Namibia’s green hydrogen ambitions.
The government has positioned green hydrogen as a pillar of its next growth phase, a transition from mineral extraction to renewable energy exports.
Yet the recent shifts expose the structural realities beneath the promise. Namibia’s empowerment framework places strong emphasis on ownership, but less on the practical enablers that make ownership sustainable: access to capital, technical capacity and long-term risk cover.
The proposed 51% local ownership rule reflects a commendable push for inclusion, but alone it cannot overcome the limitations of small financial markets and the need for specialised expertise.
Local participation depends not just on equity shares but on the ability to remain invested when external conditions change.
Foreign partners, backed by global portfolios, can wait through uncertainty. Local investors, operating within a smaller and more exposed economy, have fewer buffers.
When market pressures rise, domestic players often have to step back, leaving projects intact but less rooted in local capability.
None of this undermines Namibia’s green hydrogen potential, it remains vast. The country’s geography, port access and political stability still make it one of Africa’s most promising energy frontiers. But recent developments underline a central challenge: building an industry that endures beyond the announcement stage.
Real empowerment lies not only in local ownership but in developing the institutions, skills and financing tools that allow Namibians to stay invested for the long term.
Without this foundation, projects risk remaining externally driven, even if they carry Namibian names and aspirations.
Namibia’s energy transition will depend less on the size of its announcements and more on the strength of its domestic capacity to sustain them.
*Briefly is a weekly column that is opinionated and analytical. It sifts through the noise to make sense of the numbers, trends and headlines shaping business and the economy with insight, wit and just enough scepticism to keep things interesting. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT OUR OWN, we simply relay them as part of the conversation.
