Ithete urges real results from hydrogen projects to transform lives in Namibia

Natangue Ithete, deputy prime minister and minister of industries, mines and energy, at the Global African Hydrogen Conference, Windhoek, 10 September 2025

It is an honour to have you here in our capital city, Windhoek, in the land of the brave, and the Global African Hydrogen Conference.

This gathering is a meeting of great minds both in politics and industries. It is therefore my hope that the Global African Hydrogen Conference will be a turning point, a moment where we as leaders, investors and innovators commit to move from promises on paper and speeches to tangible progress on the ground.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, as Namibia’s deputy prime minister and minister of industries, mines and energy, my message to you today is simple: we have spoken enough, we have written enough, now let us transform our speeches into real results that our people can see and feel. Let us make a real impact in livelihoods, access to health services and education.

For Namibia, green industrialisation is a pathway to dignity, jobs and empowerment for our communities. It is a catalyst to breaking the cycle of exporting raw materials and import dependency. Our collective vision must be to process our minerals here in Namibia and across Africa, to power our homes and industries with our own renewable resources, and to build a new economy where Namibians—young people, women, and workers in our towns and villages—are direct beneficiaries of this green transition.

I commend the already visible investments in large-scale production of green hydrogen, which is essential to Namibia’s ambition to become a green hydrogen hub for Africa. In this area, let us now work on consuming what we produce locally to drive industrialisation, value addition and energy security. Because while flagship projects such as Hyphen Green Hydrogen, Daures Green Hydrogen, Oshivela HyIron and Cleanergy Solutions are achieving remarkable milestones, our work is not done if the youth in our villages cannot point to the impact of these projects in their lives.

We will fail in our efforts if we cannot tell our parents at the community level how many jobs are created, how many young Namibians are being trained with new skills, how women are being empowered to lead in this sector, and how we are ensuring that energy scarcity is being eradicated and not reproduced. Let this conference bear roadmaps to answering these questions, not through estimations but in practice.

Our policies are clear through the sixth National Development Plan (NDP6), and our commitment to environmental, social and governance principles. Yet the true measure of success will not be in how attractive our policies look to investors, but in how deeply they transform the lives of our citizens.

That is why I challenge all of us gathered here today: Let each of us commit to an impactful, measurable goal we can report and celebrate next year or whenever we gather again.

We must demand accountability from ourselves and from each other. Each project must be able to point to schools built, skills transferred, families lifted out of poverty, and communities made stronger. This is the test of leadership, and this is how we will write a new story for Africa – one of resilience, progress and shared prosperity.

Namibia is not only talking about hydrogen, but we are also building industries across our sectors. Join us as we build Namibia and Africa to succeed. Let us match our vision with actions, ambition with delivery, and policy with impact.

Let us put ambition in our action to fuel Africa’s green industrial revolution. I wish you a pleasant deliberation, and I am looking forward to receiving the report of resolutions and recommendations.

I thank you.

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