NIPDB: Hydrogen deal was carefully negotiated

The Namibia Investment and Promotion Development Board (NIPDB) says due care was exercised by government to negotiate a sound deal with green hydrogen firm, Hyphen Hydrogen Energy.Under the terms of the agreement, Hyphen offered to sell the Namibian government a 24% stake in the development of its US$10 billion project."Government has engaged the Office of the Attorney-General and even international lawyers, so, from where I sit, I believe that our people who were in that negotiation room have considered [various] aspects, and gave the best that they could, given the advice that they were getting," NIPDB CEO Nangula Uaandja said on the sidelines of the launch of the oil and gas conference, scheduled for later this year.Know-how acquiredHans Seidel Foundation country director Clemens von Doderer said the negotiations with Hyphen gave Namibia sufficient knowledge to negotiate future energy deals."It took much longer to strike the deal between Hyphen and government, and both parties lawyered up with international law firms specialising in the field of energy. The learning curve for everyone was significant," he said.The learning outcomes from government’s negotiations would also help bring favourable outcomes for future agreements, he added."Having learnt from the green hydrogen sphere also helps now to engage in future engagements in the oil and gas industry, so that is the cross-pollination, so to say, where different industries will help for the development and benefit of Namibians.”Way forwardGovernment must still choose to fund its 24% equity participation in Hyphen’s green hydrogen project – at a minimum cost of N$16 billion – in order to guard itself against escalating costs of equity capital for investors that free equity could bring about, hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe has previously said.Government is almost guaranteed to pay for its participation in the first two stages of the project – the feasibility and financial close phases. For the feasibility stage, Namibia would need to avail N$1.88 billion, while the financial close stage would require a staggering N$14 billion from Namibia alone.Meanwhile, the NIPDB will this year, in conjunction with the Hans Seidel Foundation and the Economics Association of Namibia, host the first oil and gas conference, building on last year’s green hydrogen conference, on 16 and 17 August.

NIPDB: Hydrogen deal was carefully negotiated

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-10-29

Please login to leave a comment

NIPDB: Hydrogen deal was carefully negotiated

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-10-29

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content