The Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy, Natangue Ithete, has urged stakeholders in the green energy sector to move beyond speeches and take concrete action.
Natangue Ithete made the remarks during the opening of the Global African Hydrogen Summit (GAH2S), stressing the urgency of translating commitments into tangible results.
"Let us make a real impact on livelihood, access to health services and education. For Namibia, green industrialisation is a pathway to dignity, jobs, and empowerment in our communities. It is a catalyst for breaking the cycle of exporting raw materials and import dependency. Our collective vision must be to process our minerals here in Namibia and Africa to power our homes and industries with our own renewable resources and build a new economy where Namibians – young people, women, and workers in our towns and villages – are direct beneficiaries of this green transition."
The Global African Hydrogen Summit is hosted under the patronage of the Namibian government, endorsed by the Ministry of Industries,Mines and Energy, in partnership with the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB).
The summit is supported by the Namibia Green Hydrogen Council and the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme (NGH2P).
CEO of NIPDB, Nangula Uaandja, shared the same sentiments about action. "We all know that we are now called for action and welcomed by the leadership of Her Excellency Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah; that is, a Namibia calling for action, and we are saying that the journey that we started, we are seeing action of the green hydrogen."
James Mnyupe, the Head of the Namibian Green Hydrogen Programme shared updates on Zoom from Colombia on Namibia's latest developments in green hydrogen and green energy.
"What we are doing here is to mobilise Namibia's share of about N$1.7 billion that we now want to bring home and start to deploy into our projects, into various projects that you would like to know about at the summit. This summit is really important for what's happening in Namibia since five years ago we've been talking about this idea, and this is the year that we're starting to build," said Mnyupe.
He added that, "Some of the speakers will tell you about that in a few days. Cleanergy is starting to open their service station, and they have now produced green hydrogen, and indeed Namibia has gone beyond the realms of dreaming, and it's now beginning to construct and implement, and it's exciting times to be alive."
The three-day summit brought together 75 countries, heads of state, ministers, investors, project developers, and global industry leaders to drive partnerships and financing for bankable green energy projects across Africa.