Job creation was one of the issues that took centre stage during the Europe-Namibia business forum in Brussels from 24 to 25 October.
O&L executive chairperson Sven Thieme summed up the importance of making job creation central in the deals signed during a plenary session on how the initiatives of the private sector can create a meaningful and beneficial partnership on Green Hydrogen for both Namibia and the EU.
Thieme said, “If we don’t take our people from the streets, they will take us in the street”.
According to Thieme, whose company is developing the only private-owned green hydrogen plant at the coast, the passion to create better livelihoods through job creation is there.
The international relations minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, said the Namibia and the EU’s partnership should address employment creation, poverty reduction and income inequality.
“It is important to recognise that unless we address those factors, our partnership (with the European Union – EU) may be in great danger,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
She further said there is a clear window of opportunity to utilise the natural resources to transform economies for the benefit of present and future generations.
“It has come to light that to support a global just energy transition and boost the green economy, Namibia has seen an unprecedented rise in the demand for critical raw materials like lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel and manganese, among others, most of which, if not all are found in Namibia,” she said.
