South Africa and Namibia Ink 150 Agreements
During the South Africa – Namibia Business Forum in Windhoek on 14 October 2023, the two countries signed an ‘outstanding’ 159 agreements. The fruitful outcome is the hard work since the visit of Namibian President Hage Geingob in South Africa earlier in 2023.
The Business Forum took place on the sidelines of the Bi-National Commission Meeting. Both Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, and Hage Geingob, President of Namibia, were present to witness the signing.
South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel and his counterpart the Namibian Minister of Industrialization and Trade Lucia Lipumbu were in attendance to the Forum.
For 2022, the bilateral trade volume reached ZAR 85 billion (N$ 76 billion), representing a 13.5% increase year-on-year. South Africa is also the largest source of #FDI into Namibia with the highest number of foreign firms in Namibia coming from South Africa.
The agreements cover a wide range of areas, of which:
- Promote Green Hydrogen (#GH) Fuel
- Develop Cross-Border Value Chains through Regional Industrialization
“South Africa is in the process of considering and finalizing a Green Hydrogen Commercialization Strategy. Namibia too is implementing its green hydrogen strategy. We can either go it alone as South Africa and Namibia or we can position this part of the west coast of the African continent as a key green hydrogen region.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
Together, South Africa and Namibia have #CriticalMinerals, Agricultural Produce as well as know-how and capital to climb up the value chain. President Ramaphosa tasked his minister of Trade and Industry to work with his Namibian counterpart to come up with a financial facility to promote local value addition (#LVA) and regional value chains (#RVC).
On a related note, Namibia will be holding another Business Forum with the EU with a focus on the Green Hydrogen (#GH2) partnership on the 24th of October 2023 under the #GlobalGateway initiative. After his return to South Africa, President Ramaphosa is scheduled to deliver the keynote address to the Green Hydrogen Summit which kicks off in Cape Town on 16 October 2023.
During the Forum, the establishment of a South Africa – Namibia Business Council by the end of March 2024 was announced to enhance coordination between the public and private sectors of both countries and to execute concerted policies.