During a consultative meeting with the leadership of Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) at State House on Tuesday, Geingob stressed politicians should work together in developmental projects that uplift the local populace.
“We have learned from experience where some major developments like Epupa in Kunene region were destroyed by lack of consultation at political level that could have changed the face of Kunene region where people are still in very difficult situations. At the moment, there is a development in the south about green hydrogen that needs all policymakers’ efforts,” he said.
According to the World Bank, a failure to anticipate political and institutional challenges is a chief cause of unsuccessful policy reforms that may retard development.
At the same occasion, presidential economic advisor James Mnyupe noted that with its abundant, world-class renewable energy resources and increasing demand for green hydrogen worldwide, Namibia is quickly emerging as an early entrant in this new market and has ambitions of becoming the leading exporter of green hydrogen.
He stated the Southern Corridor Development Initiative (SCDI) in the
//Kharas region is an investment that would be transformative not only for the south but for the country as a whole.
Mnyupe believes the probability of this initiative coming to fruition still requires various feasibility studies to be conducted, and the significance of the opportunity warrants a coordinated and focused effort to unlock.
“The SCDI shall include a portfolio of complementary projects and infrastructure that maximises the opportunity presented by green hydrogen and ammonia for the country which include the deepening and management of the Lüderitz Port and supply of excess energy to the Southern Africa Power Pool,” he said.
The RDP delegation at State House was led by party president Mike Kavekotora, who said there is a need for these types of projects in the country because the economy has not been growing for the past years, translating into negative economic indicators.
Kavekotora was also concerned with minimal benefits Namibia receives from its natural resources: “Namibia has a lot of natural resources but the benefits that accrue to Namibia is minimum. Our extractive industry does not benefit the man in the street because we run a franchise economy. I am delighted to hear that value addition has become a critical success factor in this (hydrogen) project.”