EU backs Namibia as hydrogen and minerals hub

Opportunity
Business forum in Windhoek next month to test strategic partnership
Staff Reporter
  • 1 Hour Ago

The European Union's (EU) ambassador to Namibia has said the country has a unique historical opportunity to lead the decarbonisation of the global maritime shipping industry, as she set out plans for a major investment forum bringing together European and Namibian business leaders next month.


Ana Beatriz Martins made the remarks ahead of the EU-Namibia Business Forum, which runs from 11 to 13 May at the Windhoek Country Club. The three-day event will bring together private companies, investors, and financing institutions from both the EU and Namibia, and will feature masterclasses, high-level plenaries, thematic discussions, and investment opportunity presentations.


Renewable hydrogen sits at the top of the forum's agenda. Martins said Namibia offered an optimal business landscape for the sector and that the EU would continue to back the country's emerging role in the global hydrogen market.


"The EU continues to support Namibia's emerging leading role in the global hydrogen market," she said.


Alongside hydrogen, sustainable raw materials value chains form the second pillar of the EU-Namibia Strategic Partnership. Martins said efforts were under way to attract European public and private funding into graphite, lithium, rare earth elements, and manganese, with the goal of enabling Namibia to process and refine its own minerals rather than export them in raw form.


"The Strategic Partnership is focused on enabling Namibia to move up the value chain by supporting local beneficiation, refining, and industrialisation of key minerals," she said.


Three additional sectors will also feature across the three days. Martins described agribusiness as one of Namibia's key productive engines and said the EU, as the country's largest trading partner, was committed to accompanying Namibia in its efforts to diversify and grow its agricultural economy.


"We see considerable potential and will use the Business Forum to ignite discussions related to 

agribusiness," she said.


On automotive parts manufacturing, Martins said Namibia had the potential to establish itself as a continental hub, with opportunities linked to electric vehicles among those to be explored at the forum.


"We see considerable untapped potential in this space," she said.


The forum takes place against the backdrop of a deepening bilateral relationship. The EU has committed €1.3 billion in grants and loans to Namibia, with up to €20 billion in prospective European private investment said to be in the pipeline. Martins has previously described the EU as Namibia's largest export market, its third-largest source of imports, and its most diversified trading partner.


Private sector leaders and financing institutions from both sides have been invited to attend, with Martins framing the Windhoek event as an opportunity to bring the Strategic Partnership to the next level.