Hyphen Namibia-China green hydrogen talks

 Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has facilitated a high-level engagement between President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and senior executives of Chinese engineering company China National Chemical Engineering Corporation 7 (CC7), marking another step in strengthening international partnerships behind Namibia's flagship green hydrogen project.

The meeting took place in Chengdu, China, during the President's official visit, bringing together members of the Namibian ministerial delegation, Hyphen executives and CC7's leadership.

Hyphen Chief Executive Officer Marco Raffinetti led the engagement, introducing the President and her delegation to CC7 Chairman Long Haiyang and the company's senior management. Discussions centred on CC7's role in the project and opportunities to deepen cooperation as development of the large-scale green hydrogen venture progresses.

CC7 was awarded the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts for Hyphen's planned ammonia production facility in 2025, making the Chinese company one of the project's principal implementation partners.

Speaking after the meeting, Long described the engagement as productive and said the visit reflected the strategic importance both Namibia and China attach to the green energy transition and the Hyphen project.

"The visit fills us with immense pride and underscores the profound strategic importance both of our nations place on the green transition and on the flagship Hyphen project," he said.

The engagement comes as Namibia continues to position green hydrogen as a cornerstone of its long-term industrialisation and energy transition agenda.

The Namibian government holds a 24% equity stake in Hyphen, underscoring the state's commitment to the project, which is expected to become one of the country's largest industrial investments.

According to Hyphen, President Nandi-Ndaitwah also encouraged Namibian businesses to leverage strategic international partnerships capable of supporting domestic economic development and industrial growth.

Raffinetti said the meeting highlighted the strength of the partnership between Namibia and China in advancing the project.

"CC7 brings world-class technical expertise and a proven delivery track record in large-scale chemical and infrastructure projects. We were very pleased to facilitate this direct introduction to Her Excellency and her ministers, underscoring the strong Sino-Namibian partnership driving this transformative project forward," he said.

Hyphen Chief Operating Officer Giuseppe Surace said discussions are under way on potentially expanding CC7's role in the project.

He said CC7 and its parent company, China National Chemical Engineering Corporation, possess extensive international engineering and construction experience that could support delivery of the development as it moves through subsequent phases.