Namibia and South Africa have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the feasibility of constructing Africa’s first cross-country green hydrogen pipeline.
The signing took place on the sidelines of the ongoing World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
President Nangolo Mbumba announced this during his keynote address on 14 May.
Mbumba stated that the memorandum involves Namibia’s green hydrogen program, the Western Cape Development Agency (Wesgro), the Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (NCEDA), and Gasunie, the Netherlands’ leading hydrogen infrastructure developer.
“This partnership aims to study the feasibility of building Africa’s first cross-country green hydrogen pipeline, linking Namibia and South Africa, and enabling significant trade of this new product between our two countries,” Mbumba said.
Mbumba noted that Namibia, like many African countries, sees the 21st century as a transformative era for the continent.
“In this era, we can leverage new, greener, and cleaner technologies to accelerate industrialization and economic transformation.
“This will allow us to create jobs, significantly reduce poverty, and build inclusive, peaceful, and stable societies, leading to genuine and lasting progress,” he said.
He added that the government, through the Green Hydrogen Council, has worked tirelessly over the past few years to position Namibia as a leader in the global green hydrogen market.
“We are now starting to see concrete, visible results.
Namibia hosts nine hydrogen projects across two developing hydrogen valleys,” he said.
Mbumba informed the delegates that green hydrogen offers opportunities beyond clean molecule production; it can anchor new industries in emerging markets worldwide.
Namibia, he explained, has always aimed to become a vital logistics hub for the Southern African region.
“To support this ambition, we are developing an ammonia bunkering hub and a green hydrogen-powered train to decarbonize shipping and long-haul logistics routes. This will ensure that goods and commodities transported via our port infrastructure minimize scope two and scope three emissions.
“This will not only enhance the competitiveness of Walvis Bay and Luderitz as preferred harbors for key exporters and importers, but we also believe it will increase the competitiveness of our regional goods and strengthen the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), thereby boosting intra-African trade in the process,” he said.