Welding Namibia's industrial future

Here is the full reworked article:Let's engineer the future, together!Kraatz's long-term commitment to Namibia's welding and engineering standardsBy Frank Kernstock, Managing Director, Kraatz EngineeringNamibia has significant industrial ambitions. Green hydrogen, oil and gas, mining, marine engineering and heavy fabrication are all sectors in which this country has genuine competitive potential. But ambition without capability is just aspiration. One of the most consequential structural gaps holding back Namibia's industrial development agenda has been a shortage of competent, internationally recognised welding personnel, including welding engineers, welding coordinators and welders.Welding is classified as a 'special process': one whose quality cannot be fully verified by inspection after the fact. To consistently deliver world-class products, you need more than trained hands. You need quality management systems such as ISO 9001 and ISO 3834-2 and the competent people to run them. A certification alone means nothing without the right structure behind it: a welding engineer responsible for the system, welding coordinators responsible for execution and quality control, and welders who are not simply machine operators but specialists with comprehensive knowledge of the processes and factors that influence product quality.We are addressing a systemic gap, not just a skills shortageAt Kraatz, we identified this as a systemic industrial risk back in early 2024, and not a skills shortage to be covered with a training course. This is a structural gap that required a deliberate, long-term response. That recognition shaped everything we have done since.The establishment of WeldNAM in 2024, Namibia's official member body of the International Institute of Welding (IIW), was the first step. WeldNAM is an industry-led institution designed to provide sector-level leadership, coordinate national standards development and create a credible interface between industry, academia and government. Kraatz was a founding member and continues to chair the WeldNAM association, whose reach reflects the breadth of the problem.WeldNAM's membership spans the mining, marine, offshore and heavy engineering sectors — the very industries most exposed to the qualification gap it was formed to close. That gap is real and documented: because Namibia's current national welder qualifications do not align with ISO 9606 or ASME Section IX, local companies are routinely required to import welding labour and requalify their own certified welders at additional cost in order to compete for international contracts. Closing that gap required action at every level of the system simultaneously.Kraatz also supported the establishment of GSI SLV Namibia, which delivers internationally benchmarked artisan training and welder qualification aligned with ISO 9606 and IIW frameworks — boosting locally generated qualifications with credentials that are portable, auditable and recognised in regulated industrial markets. Kraatz's involvement in the NSI technical committee for metal fabrication further reflects our intent to contribute to the development, alignment and implementation of national welding standards, and not merely comply with them.A partnership built for the long termThe most significant development in this journey is the launch of Namibia's first International Welding Engineer (IWE) programme at UNAM's José Eduardo dos Santos Campus. Delivered under the IIW's globally recognised framework and supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research through the RealTest Project, the programme welcomed its inaugural cohort of 12 scholars this year. It is the first programme of its kind on the African continent.Kraatz is sponsoring two students from this inaugural intake. In FY27, those graduates will join us as Welding Coordinators under the direct mentorship of a senior Welding Engineer. This is a structured pathway from academic qualification to industrial application, and an investment in capability that we expect to compound over time.UNAM Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Kenneth Matengu captured the significance of the programme well: "This programme is a defining achievement not only for UNAM, but for Namibia and the African continent. It demonstrates our commitment to producing industry-ready graduates who can compete globally while addressing local development priorities. Through this initiative, we are strengthening Namibia's position in emerging sectors such as green hydrogen and advanced manufacturing."That framing resonates strongly with us as UNAM is one of our strategic partners. We are currently reviewing our MOU with the university and actively exploring more formalised structures for ongoing industry–academia collaboration. The goal is a durable, structured relationship that creates a reliable pipeline of engineering talent aligned to the standards Namibian industry actually needs.What this means for NamibiaTaken together — WeldNAM at the institutional level, UNAM for engineering development, GSI SLV Namibia for artisan qualification and ISO 3834-2 as the quality governance framework — these are the components of a self-reinforcing national capability ecosystem. Each layer supports the others, and the intention is that collectively they reduce Namibia's dependence on expatriate expertise, improve quality outcomes across industrial sectors and open access to internationally regulated markets.Namibia's green hydrogen ambitions are particularly relevant here. Advanced welding engineering is not a sideline concern for hydrogen infrastructure. It is central to the integrity of pipelines, pressure systems and storage. Getting this right at the engineering level is a precondition for participation in what could be a defining sector for this country's economic future.Private sector-led industrial capability building of this kind is rarely fast, and it is also rarely straightforward. But the alternatives — continuing to import expertise, continuing to train people against standards that are not international and continuing to treat engineering capability as someone else's responsibility — are far more costly in the long run.Kraatz's commitment here is about building the foundation that Namibian industry needs to compete, and doing so in a way that creates lasting value for the country, for our people and for our business.

Welding Namibia's industrial future

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-30

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Welding Namibia's industrial future

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-30

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