Namibia will utilise Angola’s oil and gas framework as a guideline for industry development. This, said President Nangolo Mbumba during a visit with Angolan president João Lourenço last week, underscores Namibia’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation with its northern neighbour.
Mbumba met with Lourenço in Luanda where the two countries agreed to establish a bi-national commission to advance collaboration in oil and gas. The presidents “underlined the need to strengthen cooperation in the areas of oil and gas, energy, agriculture and water…underscoring that Namibia has a lot to learn from Angola in the oil and gas sectors”, according to a statement from the Presidency.
Last week’s neighbourly visit also resulted in a tripartite agreement between the Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) and the respective national oil companies of Angola and Namibia that establishes the groundwork for an integrated logistics base in Namibia to support oil and gas development and trade.
That agreement was penned by Angola’s Sonangol and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor).
A report by Energy Capital & Power, one of Africa’s leading investment platforms for the energy sector, noted that the Namibian base will replicate the Sonangol Integrated Logistics Services (SONILS) base in Luanda. In this regard, Mbumba invited Angolan companies to work with their Namibian counterparts on emerging industry opportunities.
Moreover, exploration within the Orange Sub-Basin, where several significant hydrocarbon discoveries have been made in the last two years, is expected to remain robust with several companies looking to drill.
Justin Cochrane, Africa Upstream Regional Research Director for S&P Global Commodity Insights, recently stated the results of current appraisal programmes are very important, as they will dictate if and when Namibia’s first oil is produced.
“The Kudu gas-to-power project is another development to watch, this may be the first commercial hydrocarbon production in the country. The wider industry is optimistic, which is evident by the number of service companies already establishing a presence in the country. The recent discoveries within the Orange Sub-Basin have established Namibia as one of the hottest exploration destinations in the world. The perception that Namibia is stable and its government is open for business certainly makes the country a premier destination for energy investment,” said Cochrane.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Namibia and the National Bank of Angola set the end of 2024 as the deadline for establishing a payment instrument to support bilateral trade, with an agreement for the financial instrument signed last year.
“The technical work was carried out and assessed at the level of the administrations of the central banks of both countries,” said Manuel Tiago Dias, Governor of the National Bank of Angola.