Angola’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas and Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance bilateral cooperation in the petroleum and natural gas sector and improve the mutual social, economic and environmental interests between the two countries.
The MoU signed on Tuesday by Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, and Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, is poised to promote and strengthen cooperation between Angola and Namibia within the fields of petroleum and natural gas by establishing an institutional framework that facilitates the exchange of information, the management of data and geological studies, and the development of joint projects.
“This is going to be an amazing partnership where both Angolans and Namibians can share knowledge and expertise. We can learn a lot from Angola’s successes in the industry. It is important for Namibia to partner with Angolan companies to drive up local content so that Namibians are ready for their jobs, contracts and the empowerment of everyone in the sector,” Alweendo said.
Additionally, the MoU will address the challenges of the energy transition within the African context and encourage local capacity building between the neighbouring countries through technological cooperation and the transfer of skills.
“This is an amazing opportunity for us to work hand in hand with Namibia. This will give Angola a chance to share its skills, lessons learned and to help Namibia have a successful oil and gas sector,” said Diamantino.
This comes as the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) has entered into a tripartite agreement with Angola’s Sonangol and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) to establish an integrated logistics base in Namibia to support the country’s emerging oil and gas industry.
As part of the signed agreement, Namport is expected to grant areas located in Walvis Bay and Luderitz that might be deemed suitable for the implementation of the collaboration to bring about full realisation of the agreement, which is expected to benefit Namibia’s oil and gas industry.
