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Namibia can help save SA, Europe – Geingos


NAMIBIA’S first lady, Monica Geingos, says the country’s green hydrogen ambitions could assist South Africa (SA) and Europe in solving their energy crises.

“There is an opportunity to export clean [energy] to a neighbouring country [South Africa] that is also Africa’s largest carbon emitter,” Geingos said during an interview with American-based news network CNN.

South Africa over the last few years has experienced ongoing load-shedding as electricity demand dominates supply, threatening to destabilise the national power grid.

Maintenance and breakdowns of SA’s generation units have resulted in over 100 days of load-shedding in the neighbouring country this year.

This causes business and communications disruptions.

Meanwhile, Europe’s gas prices have risen more than 10 times since the pandemic.

The continent depends on Russia for 40% of its gas imports.

The European Union (EU) has set a target to produce 11 million tonnes of green hydrogen and import another 11 million tonnes by 2030.

Sinikka Antila, the EU ambassador to Namibia, last week said European businesses and households are struggling to make ends meet amid Russia’s continued manipulation.

This comes at a time when almost 60% of Namibia’s population is still struggling to get access to electricity.

Namibia last year imported close to 70% of its electricity needs.

Geingos said Namibia has also been identified as a strategic enabler of the European Union’s decarbonisation agenda, which facilitates the country’s ability to export energy to Europe.

“What this means is that Namibia can go beyond the traditional relationship of being an aid recipient to become a strategic trading partner,” she said.

The EU last week emphasised its eagerness to feed its industries by continuing to import Namibia’s more critical raw materials amid its energy crisis.

President Hage Geingob and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have agreed on a partnership on critical raw materials and green hydrogen.

European expertise and investments are already part of Namibia’s plans for critical raw materials and green hydrogen, and this is an important way of implementing global gateway pledges in Namibia.

Namibia’s project, which aims to be commercially operational by 2024, and which will see investment of around N$3,1 billion, will be based at Swakopmund and will contribute to local clean electricity generation 24 hours a day – directly contributing to Namibia’s electricity supply security.

Geingos said Namibia’s green hydrogen plans go beyond its need to become self-sufficient in providing domestic energy, but could cater for the region as well.

“It is also about intra-African trade as Namibia has the opportunity to export clean energy to regional power markets,” she said.

The first lady believes the green hydrogen project would drive vibrant economic mobilisation, which the business sector would benefit from.

“[Namibia] will be able to deploy its own resources to private-sector investment, which also enables increased risk appetite for sectors that foreign investors traditionally stay away from,” she said.

GENDER PARITY

Geingos said while public-sector leadership has not managed to accomplish gender parity, it leads the private sector which still lags far behind in ensuring gender equality.

“This is an indicator of the gains made in certain sectors, but also confirmation of how much work still needs to be done. In essence, our mindsets are not as progressive as our laws,” she said.

According to the United Nations, 91,7% of legal frameworks in Namibia promote, enforce and monitor gender equality.

“Namibia’s legislative and policy framework pertaining to gender equality is very progressive.

“The barriers are unseen and pertain to how women are perceived, spoken about, treated and made to feel when in positions of influence, or when trying to climb the ladder,” she said.

Geingos advocated the importance of women taking a seat at any table where consequential decisions are made, as targeting such large opportunities without diverse thinking would be to society’s detriment.

“Women bring differentiated thinking and capacity to the table. It makes no sense to sit around the table and make major decisions while excluding a portion of your intellectual capital,” she said.

Geingos said the easier movement of goods and people to facilitate intra-African trade has risks for women which need to be managed, such as human trafficking, but also has significant opportunities.

“There are bespoke pockets of capital that target women entrepreneurs, which can be applied in pursuing expanded market opportunities, which make for exciting times for women entrepreneurs,” she said.





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