The Global Gateway Forum has made several key announcements about investing in clean energy transitions in various African countries.

These include the €146 million for the construction of the Kakono hydropower plant in Tanzania and the €20.4 million for the Green and Blue Pact in Comoros to boost that country’s environmental and food resilience.

Local skills development, with a particular emphasis on vocational training, will be a critical feature of the partnership between Namibia and the European Union.

President Hage Geingob and the President of the EU Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, agreed on this approach, which was reiterated during the inaugural Global Gateway Forum underway in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

President Geingob's speech was read on his behalf by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.

Namibia is no longer going to export raw materials and will push to add value locally.

This was said by President Hage Geingob when he opened the first-ever EU-Namibia Business Forum in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

He says Namibia dedicates itself to improving the sustainability of the extractive industry and developing local processing, refining, recovery, and recycling capacity.

President Hage Geingob leaves for Brussels, Belgium, tomorrow for the European Union Inaugural Global Gateway Forum and the first EU-Namibia Green Hydrogen and Critical Raw Materials Business Forum.

Dr. Geingob will attend at the invitation of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

In recognition of Namibia's leadership in the transition to cleaner sources of energy, President Geingob will deliver the keynote statement during the Leaders' Session on "Green Energy Transition and Green Hydrogen".