‘Namibia should build oil refinery’

Namibia has been advised to not only produce oil, but to also consider processing it locally.

Riverson Oppang, the chief executive of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies in Ghana, says the country should follow the example of Mali and build a refinery.

He said this at the oil and gas conference in Windhoek, which was underway yesterday.

Namibia should not wait until it starts producing oil before considering a refinery, he said.

“As a Ghanaian, I feel so sad and sorry for my own country that it took all these years for them to understand the importance of the entire natural petroleum industry.”

Oppang said having a refinery would allow the country to become a net exporter of oil.

“Today, 95% of resources mined in Africa are exported. Name it, cocoa, gold, coffee, everything is exported in its raw state and imported back,” he said.

This means Africa sells products at a lower price to buy the refined products back at a higher price, he said.

Oppang said a refinery would allow Namibia to have some control over its fuel price.

“China is the only country in this world that understands the importance of energy mix or electricity, because they understand it’s a tool for industrialisation,” Oppang said.

He believes Namibia’s ambitious dreams of becoming Africa’s energy hub can only happen on the back of good policies and capacity.

“The energy hub Namibia wants to build will face a lot of hurdles. But if they can do it, it comes with some risk.”

He said other African countries such as Libya and Nigeria had the same opportunity, but failed.

“Namibia has the resources to become the energy hub of Africa, however, this can only happen if the country puts in place the right policies and builds capacity.”