Namibia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in the areas of economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
The collaborative agreement, signed at COP28, focuses on financing carbon-capturing projects.
“We are very impressed by Namibia’s ambitions in terms of decarbonising. We want to support Namibia’s sustainable development and contribute to the global public good, especially in decarbonising the world and the African continent, ultimately enhancing social well-being for the people of Namibia and the region,” said JBIC Governor Nobumitsu Hayashi.
“This marks the beginning of our long-term relationship supporting decarbonising and green ammonia projects, as well as mineral projects. We pledge to work closely with you to realize projects that benefit your country, the Japanese economy, and the global world.”
Namibia’s Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, said the MoU signing demonstrates the strong relationship between Namibia and Japa, and the collaboration will enable Namibia to achieve its goals for green industrialisation while contributing to the broader objective of decarbonising the planet.
“We aim to explore collaborative opportunities in technologies that facilitate global decarbonisation, with a particular focus on our two countries. Namibia is committed to decarbonizing its energy sector and assisting the world in reaching net-zero targets,” said Minister Shiimi.
He added that the Namibian government will consider working with the Japanese development bank on technologies aimed at decarbonising the world, specifically targeting Japan and Namibia.
“This is an area of focus for our country. Namibia has aspirations to decarbonise its energy sector and, most importantly, to contribute to global net-zero targets. The relationship we are initiating today will significantly contribute to achieving these objectives,” Shiimi said.
This comes as Japan’s Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Nishimura Yasutoshi, committed in August to invest N$28 billion (US$1.5 billion) in Namibia’s mining sector, subject to participation of Japanese companies.
