The Minister of Industries, Mines and  Energy (MIME), Modestus Amutse has expressed concerns over shortage of skilled  workers in both the mining and energy sectors. 

This, the minister asserted, could hinder the government's efforts to maximum  value for the country. 

Minister Amutse shared the sentiments during a courtesy  visit to Hardap Governor Riaan McNab as part of his familiarisation visit to the region. 

The visit aims to assess the industrial parks in the region.

The minister also broke ground  to connect Mariental's Gogoros informal settlement to the national electricity grid.. 

Both Hardap and ||Kharas regional leadership, among them ||Kharas Governor Dawid Gertze, attended the courtesy  call meeting. 

Minister Amutse says," And I can confirm to you,  today  my  worry  has been the skills gap. That is hitting us. Now, that gap has been there, but as a government we want to slowly moving  to closing those  gaps by  capacitating our people either by means financing or especially by means of strengthening our training programs. 

He further  emphasised  that addressing the skills gap in the mining and energy sectors  requires  collective effort. 

" The government wants to utilise its own people because in it, to empower its own people. Because in it there is employment creation, but there is also participation in the mainstream of the economy, which we want also to capacitate our people with, you see, our own people."

Governor McNab said the skills gap is also a cause for concern in his region. 

"We have been actively working in the region in terms of capacity building bringing the institutions to the region which were not there. So definitely with the new emerging sector of oil and gas, green hydrogen  and the mining sector, we looking  forward honourable minister to join hands with the office of the minister to strengthen the area of skills gap within the region."