Maria Namhindo
There is something interesting about introducing green hydrogen to the people of Namibia, because the first reaction is often not excitement.
It is a question. “What exactly is green hydrogen going to do for us?” my community Oshana and Erongo, where I currently reside, is asking. I have come to appreciate that question as an ambassador because it cuts through the language we have become accustomed to hearing around major investments such as Billions, Green Ammonia, Decarbonisation, Megawatts, Global markets and Exports.
Nonetheless, all is significant, however, none of those words means much to a young Namibian trying to decide what to study, a family wondering where the next opportunity will come from or a small business owner looking for the next contract. Hence, that is where I believe the green hydrogen conversation needs to go next. From explaining the industry to explaining where our Namibia and Namibian people fit into it.
Is Green hydrogen bigger than our people?
Given our renewable resources, growing international interest and strategic location, green hydrogen is an exciting opportunity for Namibia. Keep in mind that opportunity is not an outcome, hence the distinction matters. Attracting investors without building local capability, exporting green products without creating a sufficiently deep domestic value chain and trying people for jobs that do not exist or importing skills is a sign that preparation needs to meet practicality.
In my earlier article, “Namibia Has Struck Gold. The Real Question Is, Will We Keep It?”, the community questioned whether Namibia would simply become better at attracting investment. Together we ask, are we building an industry in Namibia or we are simply building a project in Namibia? There is a significant difference.
Bringing conversations back
Coming from Oshana Region, I find the national green hydrogen conversation interesting because our communities are not necessarily sitting around discussing electrolysis every day. The community is thinking about employment, education, business, food prices, household income and what kind of future their children will have. Hence, when we are introducing green hydrogen, we have to make the connection to the aforementioned variables.
The community does not necessarily need to understand the chemistry behind hydrogen to understand an opportunity in logistics. A young person does not need to become a chemical engineer to participate in the emerging economy and SMEs do not need to produce hydrogen to benefit from the ecosystem surrounding hydrogen projects. Those are the most significant messages I believe we need to communicate. Hence, the hydrogen economy will need more than hydrogen producers.
Namibia has accountants, engineers, electricians, environmental specialists, mechanics, financial advisers, construction companies, transport operators, caterers, accommodation providers, security companies, researchers, ICT professionals, security companies, logistics businesses and many services providers. The question is are we ready when the opportunities become commercially available?
Awareness cannot stop at “Green Hydrogen is good for Namibia”
There is also a danger in turning public awareness into promotion. Communities deserve more than a message telling them that green hydrogen is the future. Thus, they deserve to understand the opportunity and the trade-offs. Often the communities ask: Where will the water come from? What happens to land and biodiversity? What infrastructure will be required? Which skills will be needed? How much employment will actually be created locally? Will SMEs and local companies be competitive enough to supply major projects? What happens if international prices change? What happens when competing countries become more efficient? These are responsible questions and a sustainable industry must be able to withstand scrutiny.
The real test is local value
As a green hydrogen ambassador, my interest in this issue is closely connected to another area I have written about: The role of everyday businesses in Namibia’s economic transformation. In “Why Investing in Everyday Businesses and Money Knowledge Is the Key to National Transformation” I argued that economic transformation cannot be built only from the top. Including SMEs, entrepreneurs, financially capable citizens have to become part of the economic machinery. As green hydrogen gives Namibia another opportunity to put that principle into practice.
Let us do some imagination to prompt realisation and sustainability. Imagine a local company developing software for an energy project. A local engineering firm moving from small contracts into specialized industrial services. TVETs graduates becoming technicians instead of waiting for scare conventional jobs. Local manufacturer supplying energy components. Financial institutions creating products that help Namibian businesses meet the standards and working capital requirements of large projects. Yes, that is when green hydrogen begins to look different, it stops being an energy project and it becomes an economic ecosystem.
We must be honest about what could hold us back?
Our biggest competitor may not be another country, it may be our own lack of preparation. Skills shortages can force companies to look elsewhere and weak local supplier capacity can limit domestic participation. On the other hand, slow infrastructure development can increase project costs, limited access to finance can prevent SMEs from scaling and poor coordination can leave institutions working in isolation. Thus, when our young Namibians only hear about green hydrogen when projects are already recruiting, it means we have started the preparation too late. Therefore, NUST, UNAM, Welwitschia, IUM, TVET institutions, business, government and industry developers cannot operate in separate conversations as the industry will not wait for our institutions to catch up.
What I have learned as an ambassador.
The Green Hydrogen Ambassador has changed how I look at public awareness. I have realised that an ambassador should not be a person who simply tells communities what the industry is about, hence as an ambassador, one should help create a bridge between the industry and the questions coming from the society. On some days it means explaining, sometimes listening, sometimes challenging assumptions and sometimes admitting that there are questions for which the country still needs better answers. This is a responsible engagement, I hold with pride and accountability.
My role has therefore strengthened something I already believed through my writing and professional work: economic transformation only becomes meaningful when people can see themselves inside it and young people should stop waiting for permission. My message to the young and determined people of Namibia is: Do not wait until green hydrogen becomes a mature industry before deciding that it concerns you, as many opportunities will already have been shaped, so start preparing now and study the sector, build technical skill, learn about finance, understand business, develop digital capabilities, look at the supply chain and understand environmental sustainability. Ask what problems companies will have and whether you can solve one of them and most importantly, stop seeing employment as the only form of participation. Thus, some of the significant jobs of tomorrow may be businesses created by young people today.
What should success look like?
I do not believe Namibia should measure the success of green hydrogen only by tonnes produced, investment attracted or export contracts and memorandum signed. I would like to see a Namibia where green hydrogen contributes to stronger local companies, new industries, technical skills, research capacity, improved infrastructure like PENTwater, AWG, Redzyme and IoT infrastructure integrated to tackle water and energy challenges which are ESG alignment than desalination focus only, offered by Reddrok Water Security Ecosystems, as this are meaningful attributes to enhance a Namibia child, the economy and the future sustainability of Namibia.
My earlier writing on ammonia made a similar point: hydrogen becomes far more powerful for Namibia when we use it as a platform for value addition and Green ammonia can connect the energy economy to agriculture, fertilizer, shipping and industrial development. This is a chance to build a different economy for our Namibia. The green hydrogen conversation is no longer something that belongs only to experts, policymakers and investors. It belongs to schools, communities, businesses, and the whole of Namibia, who are willing to prepare for an economy that may look very different from the one we know today.
To all Namibians, the sustainable question we must ask is: When the green hydrogen economy grows, how much of that growth will actually belong to Namibia?
That, in my view, is the conversation we should be having now.
Maria NN Namhindo is an Energy Economist, Investment Strategist and Strategic Advisor, born and raised in Ongwediva in the Oshana Region of Namibia, whose work sits at the intersection of economics, investment, strategy and sustainable development.
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