The Namibian government and the German government on Wednesday virtually signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a 40 million Euros grant to provide scholarships to Namibians to study in the green hydrogen industry.

Speaking right after signing the MoU, Director General of the National Planning Commission, Obed Kandjoze said Namibia is particularly susceptible to climate change and that two-thirds of the existing installed generation capacity rely on hydroelectricity, which in turn relies on rain and the flowing rivers at Ruacana.

He said according to the latest labour force survey, 23 per cent of the country’s eligible workers depend on agriculture and prolonged droughts such as the one recently experienced is an indication of catastrophic news for many citizens.

“The work of combatting climate change needs to start today, the day the two governments joined hands to build a future that would reflect the aspirations of our people,” said Kandjoze.

Green hydrogen commissioner in Namibia, James Mnyupe in an interview with Nampa ahead of the signing of the MoU said the grants will go towards providing scholarships to Namibians to study various sciences and opportunities that are presented by the green hydrogen industry in other areas of the world.

“This will also provide grant funding for pilot plants to be built in Namibia and to conduct feasibility studies in Lüderitz, Erongo and Kunene Regions as well as other areas in Namibia to unearth more opportunities that can absorb Namibians into the labour force,” said Mnyupe.

German Minister of Education and Research, Anja Karliczek on her part, said countries that are particularly hard hit by the effects of global warming are those that have virtually no carbon emissions and Namibia falls into that category. Such countries also have a lot of sunshine and wind both of which are key to generating renewable energy and taking advantage of green hydrogen to cut emissions.

“Namibia was one of the first countries in Southern Africa to recognize the potential of a green hydrogen industry and will present its own hydrogen strategy in November, Germany will play a central role in its implementation,” she said.

Namibia, she added has enormous potential for scaling up a green hydrogen industry, as it has a lot of vast unused space. High wind speeds in Namibia mean that the generation of wind power is particularly profitable.

Source: Namibia Press Agency