STAFF WRITER
ACADEMIC and Institute for Public Policy Institute Research(IPPR) Board member Professor André Dupisani on Friday called on young researchers to engage parliamentarians on creating better laws and regulatory frameworks to benefit locals from the industry.
Du Pisani sentiments were aired during the launch of the third green hydrogen monitor on Friday.
The monitor exposed how young people are still finding it difficult to get opportunities in the industry, flagged the under participation of women in the industry and also called for clarity on the exact number of jobs that the industry has potential to create in the country.
“The material in this edition is quite interesting and it is very encouraging to see young researchers doing such work.I want to encourage young people to go to parliament and seek an audience with the law makers. Target the economic committees and make sure they understand issues that are raised by such research work. This will help them to craft laws that benefit you.
Some of us are now old but you have the energy to do this and you must use it,” he said.
The researchers in the monitor also flagged the reality that Namibia seems to be playing second fiddle to countries like Morocco and Algeria who already have thriving industries.
On the contrary Namibia is still building entry level skills from ground, a situation researchers say makes it difficult and will take long before Namibia catches up with its competitor in Africa.
Morocco and Algeria are obvious beneficiaries of upskilling workforce from an existing oil and gas industry while Namibia is building from the ground on both the Green Hydrogen and Oil and Gas industries in terms of skills set.
The professor’s views come after an IPPR Associate Researcher who also contributed to the Green Hydrogen Monitor, Rosevitha Ndumbu said the Green Hydrogen industry is still misunderstood by many young people.
She called for robust engagement between young people and the Green Hydrogen industry to explain opportunities that are available for young people to exploit.
Ndumbu argues that if well explained and given exposure to young people the green hydrogen industry has potential to make a dent on the country’s unemployment which has reached runaway levels for the youth.
“Unemployment is still a very big challenge in Namibia especially among the youth. It is important for young people to understand how they stand to benefit from this industry in terms of employment opportunities. The challenge we discovered is that most of the young people do not know much about this industry and it needs to be dealt with,” she said.
Ndumbu called for concerted efforts in making sure that Green Hydrogen does not become a preserve of the few elite.
She said there should be deliberate efforts to make sure that groups including women and young people play a part.
“There are still challenges in making sure that this industry is not primarily male dominated initiatives such as the Women in Green Hydrogen are making good progress in seeing that other groups like women are included in this industry,” she said
Speaking at the same event IPPR Researcher Frederico Links sais the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme needs to be more circumspect on the actual number of jobs that the industry will create.
“The Green Hydrogen Programme perhaps needs to be on point to the number of jobs that we will see. This was also an issue I the last monitor and these issues make the next monitor very important,” he said
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