Lahja Nashuuta
President Nangolo Mbumba has described the visit of King Philippe of Belgium to Namibia as an important opportunity for forging closer cooperation, especially in green hydrogen.
With Namibia standing on the verge of a possible energy boom in the hydrocarbon sector, given recent discoveries of oil and gas, King Philippe and his business delegation landed in Namibia on Monday evening for a five-day official visit. Describing the visit, Mbumba said it sought to rejuvenate existing socio-economic relations between the two countries, as well as serve as an opportunity for Belgian companies to explore investment opportunities in Namibia. The visit also served as a forum for Namibian companies to explore new business opportunities in Belgium.
During the joint official talks held at State House on Monday, Mbumba affirmed Namibia’s readiness to work with Belgium and other countries to ensure that the energy transition takes place smoothly without major interruptions to global energy sufficiency.
“Renewable energy forms an increasingly important part of our energy mix, and is vital to both the achievement of a just transition and greater energy security. We hope to benefit from closer cooperation with your country in this regard,” Mbumba said.
Although an agreement between the two countries in clean energy already exists, the visit was necessary as Namibia has just started with the implementation of the green hydrogen project, he continued.
He revealed that in November 2021, energy ministers of Namibia and Belgium at COP26 in Glasgow put pen to paper to cooperate in green hydrogen and green ammonia. Furthermore, in June 2022, another agreement was inked between the Namibian Ports Authority and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges International to collaborate on green energy solutions, infrastructure development, capacity-building, and the establishment of a green hydrogen supply chain between the two ports. Mbumba added that significant progress was made in terms of the implementation of the bilateral relationship between the two countries under late president Hage Geingob and Alexander de Croo, Belgium’s prime minister, resulting in ongoing people-to-people projects such as the twinning between the Ongwediva Town Council and the city of Lommel in Belgium.
Mbumba said the two countries have been working tirelessly at the official and private sector levels to realise the vision of a reduced carbon footprint. On his part, King Philippe acknowledged the good and robust relationship between the two countries, before reaffirming that the two countries will continue working together in areas of mutual interest.
“I encouraged the people of Belgium to work together with Namibia to strengthen and deepen economic relationships and become key trading partners in the green hydrogen and green energy sectors, skills development, mining, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure and innovation, said King Philippe. During his stay, King Phillippe visited Walvis Bay to witness some of these developments, including the Clean Energy Solutions Hydrogen Facility currently being developed by private sector companies.
“I am happy that Your Majesty is accompanied by a large delegation of businesspeople, and trust that they will have fruitful meetings with their Namibian counterparts in Windhoek, Walvis Bay, and Swakopmund to establish similar and other business ventures,” said Mbumba.
He also used the opportunity to express his consternation over a decision taken by G7 countries to route all rough and polished diamonds destined for G7 countries via Belgium. “This decision poses a serious risk and threat to our economies [Angola, Botswana and Namibia] by increasing costs as well as curtailing the freedom of trade for our countries,” lamented the former finance minister. - lnashuuta@gmail.com