Angola-Namibia N$22bn Baynes dam project pushed to 2028

Construction of the N$22 billion Baynes Binational Hydropower Project has been delayed until 2028, missing the first-quarter 2027 target announced by Namibia and Angola in 2024.

Senior government officials familiar with the project told Namibian Sun that the two countries are now working towards commencing construction of the main and regulating dams by then.

“The delay comes as the governments continue considering how the project will be financed, while environmental, geotechnical and resettlement processes remain incomplete,” an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

It is understood that Namibia and Angola intend to launch the project’s next development phase before the end of this year – before a scheduled bilateral meeting in October where the countries’ energy ministers are set to meet.

The project comprises an 860 MW main dam with a 200-metre wall, 45 km downstream of Epupa Falls, and a 21 MW regulating dam. The reservoir would extend about 40 km, with capital expenditure, including interest during construction.

2027 target

When Namibia and Angola signed the Baynes Implementation Agreement in November 2024, both then mines and energy minister, Tom Alweendo, and Angola's energy and water minister João Baptista Borges, said the countries aimed to secure funding by the end of 2026.

"The investment plans a transmission network to the Baynes binational hydropower project, which further promotes the connectivity of Angola and Namibia and to the rest of the region, and will provide an additional route for the export of excess power from the Kwanza and Kunene river basins,” the two ministers said at the time.

However, this publication understands that the project’s financing arrangements have not yet been finalised.

It is alleged that the Baynes project implementation unit and its financial advisers have developed a funding strategy that is expected to be presented to both governments for consideration.

Officials close to the matter said the two countries have opted for a public implementation model, under which both governments will be responsible for mobilising the required funding.

“The African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed interest in serving as the project’s lead arranger, while several other international multilateral development banks are monitoring its progress.

“In Namibia, the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has also shown its possible participation in the funding process,” one official said.

Studies incomplete

The project is expected to reduce Namibia’s electricity imports and reliance on South Africa for power-grid stability.

An environmental impact assessment for the smaller regulating dam, to be constructed downstream from the main dam, was commissioned in June and is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2027.

It is alleged that funding is still being mobilised for geotechnical investigations at the main and regulating dam sites.

The project is expected to affect communities living near the planned reservoir.

“The two countries must also draft a resettlement action plan and negotiate it with affected communities on both sides of the Namibia-Angola border,” the official said.

Government official attributed the project's slow progress to funding constraints, different national priorities and the complexities of implementing a major project jointly between two countries.

The Baynes project has been under consideration for nearly two decades. Its feasibility study was launched in 2008 and completed in 2014. Some members of the indigenous Ovahimba and Ovatjimba communities in Kunene strongly oppose the Baynes dam project over a critical lack of meaningful consultation and the potential destruction of ancestral lands.