MARIENTAL – Hyphen Hydrogen Energy and the Hardap Regional Council on Tuesday signed an agreement at Mariental. The agreement is aimed at providing skills development, capacity building and training initiatives for the youth of the Hardap region in order to prepare them for job opportunities in the green hydrogen industry. This marks the first agreement be tween Hyphen Hydrogen Energy and a regional authority. 

In his keynote address, Hardap governor Salomon April emphasised the importance of the agreement, stating it will bring hope to the youth in the region. 

“This is a milestone for us in the region, as we the leaders have seen and experienced the hopelessness in our young people. This agreement is not just a document, it’s a foundation of reinstating hope in our youth. We, the leaders, are going to make sure that this agreement is implemented, and we want to see results,” he stated. Hyphen Hydrogen head of environment, social and governance Toni Beukes, on her part stated why the company is motivated to collaborate with the regional authority. 

“We recognised the existing skills gap across the country – that’s why we are committed in partnering with the Namibian government as it embarks on upskilling the youth through specialised training and capacity building and training initiatives in this new sector and today, our focus is on Hardap region,” she stated. Executive Director of the Ministry of Mines and Energy Penda Ithindi highlighted what the collaboration document covers. 

“Let’s look at the whole value chain this industry is unlocking. Local economic development is important. It will create jobs, not only direct jobs, but indirect jobs as well to make sure the young people can generate an income. 

The agreement also looks at how we can enable small, medium and micro enterprises to participate in the value chain in this new industry and we are glad to bring in skills development to enable the people to be well-prepared for this new industry,” said Ithindi. 

He expressed the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s satisfaction at witnessing the signing of the first agreement with a regional authority. 

It was signed by acting chief regional officer Sima Luipert and Beukes, Hyphen’s representative. -Nampa