Namibia is poised to become the renewable energy hub of Africa

Namibia aims to transition from an energy importer to a supplier by utilizing its high solar irradiance and wind resources to develop a green hydrogen economy. Under the Second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPPII), the country seeks to attract foreign investment and deploy domestic capital to decarbonize the Southern African region and drive national economic growth.

• Namibia possesses significant natural advantages for renewable energy, including the ability to capture approximately 10 hours of strong sunlight daily for 300 days a year, giving it some of the highest solar irradiance potential in Africa.
• The government intends to establish a green hydrogen economy to serve hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation, container shipping, road trucking, chemicals, steel, and cement. Namibia possesses the necessary requirements for competitive production, including land, a conducive legislative environment, wind and solar resources, port facilities, and the largest desalination plant in Southern Africa to provide clean water.
• Proposed renewable energy investments could dramatically scale Namibia's power capacity; while the economy currently consumes about 640 megawatts per annum at its peak, proposals suggest investments that could produce 10 times that capacity within 10 years.
• Namibia aims to shift its energy relationship with South Africa, from which it currently sources about 40% of its power (primarily from coal-fired plants), to becoming an exporter of clean energy to help the Southern African region decarbonize.
• To ensure equitable distribution of wealth from the energy transition and address a Gini coefficient of 59.1, Namibia has resolved to establish a sovereign wealth fund.

APA

Geingob, H. G. (2021). Namibia is poised to become the renewable energy hub of Africa. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/namibia-is-positioned-to-become-the-renewable-energy-hub-of-africa/

Chicago

Geingob, Hage G. Namibia is poised to become the renewable energy hub of Africa. World Economic Forum, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/namibia-is-positioned-to-become-the-renewable-energy-hub-of-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Geingob |first1=Hage G. |title=Namibia is poised to become the renewable energy hub of Africa |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=3 October 2021 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/namibia-is-positioned-to-become-the-renewable-energy-hub-of-africa/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{geingob2021namibia, author = {Geingob, Hage G.}, title = {{Namibia is poised to become the renewable energy hub of Africa}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/namibia-is-positioned-to-become-the-renewable-energy-hub-of-africa/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }