President Hage Geingob, on Friday said as a nation, Namibia cannot continue to lag behind others in terms of vaccination rates, thus an acceptable level of vaccination should be achieved.

While delivering his new year message at State House, Geingob said Namibia is not an island as the country belongs to a global village, and for the sake of its economic survival, Namibia must do business with the rest of the world. Therefore, if the country fails to reach acceptable levels of vaccination and achieve herd immunity, it is effectively cutting itself off from the world and severely limiting the economy’s ability to generate the prosperity which is so desperately needed.

‘I once again urge all of you to please get vaccinated. Moreover, refrain from spreading falsehoods about vaccines that will set us back as a nation. Despite the fact that the global economy has taken a battering, thereby affecting our economy, positive sentiment remains and barring any new Covid-19 variants, we expect to see improved economic growth in 2022,’ said Geingob.

The country, he further said cannot sit back and wait for commodity prices to dictate the economic outcomes that everybody is yearning for. Therefore, people must think out of the box and pursue innovative ideas and ventures that can generate economic growth, and one of those ventures is Green Hydrogen.

‘In that vein, during my official trips to the United States to participate in the 76th United Nations General Assembly in September as well as the COP 26 Heads of State and Government meeting in Scotland which took place in November, significant progress was made in marketing Namibia’s potential for green hydrogen production. This new industry will strengthen our renewable energy footprint, which will result in competitive electricity tariffs,’ stated Geingob.

He noted that Government shall in 2022 secure the first N.dollars 100 million in concession fees from the preferred bidder to bring immediate relief to the fiscus and translating the vision of a synthetic fuels industry into immediate foreign direct investment flows, and Government shall deliver Namibia’s Green Hydrogen strategy, outlining a clear pathway to unlocking even greater investments and to establishing Namibia as a regional and global decarbonization champion.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency