Overview
Namibia is a country in Southern Africa, distinguished by the Namib desert along its Atlantic Ocean coast. More than twice the size of Germany, it is sparsely populated with a population of over 3 million and known for its commitment to biodiversity and wildlife conservation.
Namibia is a stable democracy and an upper middle-income country since 2009. However, its upper middle income country status masks high socio-economic inequality and environmental challenges. Namibia is mainly dependent on commodity exports (diamonds, uranium) and tourism. Its economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and price shocks from the war in Ukraine. In the medium term, efforts to diversify the economy will include green energy and green industrialisation, but also the development of an oil and gas sector.
Our partnership
The EU and Team Europe supports Namibia’s green industrialisation, in line with Namibia’s ‘Vision 2030’, the ‘Harambee Prosperity Plan II’ and the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy. Our cooperation builds on Namibia’s commitment to the twin green and digital transition and its abundant renewable energy potential and natural resources. Namibia’s renewable energy and green hydrogen ambitions could become an economic game-changer in the medium term, spurring green industrialisation and the development of a logistics hub for Southern Africa through the ports of Walvis Bay and Luderitz.
Team Europe in Namibia brings together the EU, the European Investment Bank, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland, through the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on Inclusive Green Growth.
Together, the TEI supports Namibia’s just green transition, aiming to boost investment and employment opportunities in three priority sectors: renewable energy; green hydrogen and raw materials; water and climate resilience.
A significant development in EU-Namibia relations was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials value chains and renewable hydrogen at COP 27 in Egypt in November 2022. The partnership aims to ensure a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials to support the green transformation of the EU and Namibia’s economies and promote local value addition in Namibia.
The EU also supports Namibia in the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Southern Africa Countries, focusing on trade facilitation and policy alignment.
The EU allocated €63 million in grant funding towards the partnership with Namibia for 2021-27. Namibia also benefits from a number of multi-country EU programmes. EU-Namibia partnership programming documents can be found in the ‘Related documents’ section below.
Our key initiatives
- Green hydrogen
Promoting the development of renewable hydrogen through strategic investments together with EU companies, local value addition, capacity building, policy advice, technology transfer and skills development. Our efforts focus on:
- Assisting the Green Hydrogen Implementation Authority to establish regulatory frameworks and conduct socio-economic and technical studies.
- Enhancing urban development around Lüderitz, Aus and Walvis Bay for green hydrogen production.
- Developing infrastructure for the secure transport and production of green energy and hydrogen.
- Supporting green hydrogen pilot projects, including in Walvis Bay and Daures.
- Promoting skills development through technical vocational education and training (TVET) and university cooperation for green hydrogen training and education.
- Strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations to contribute to an accountable and transparent governance and management of the green hydrogen sector.
- Renewable energy
The EU partners with Namibia to reducing its reliance on imported electricity (about 60%) and increasing energy access for Namibians, especially in rural areas. The EU also aims to contribute to the Government of Namibia’s target to add 100 MW of energy from renewable sources and decarbonise its economy by 91% by 2030. Key initiatives include:
- Supporting renewable energy generation and its grid integration to ensure access to electricity for Namibians through advisory services, capacity building and institutional support to Namibia's Ministry of Mines and Energy and other governmental bodies in the energy sector.
- Strengthening capacity for the green transition through TVET, including support for Vocational Training Centres and solar installations.
- Promoting the Green People’s Energy initiative, enhancing rural and peri-urban electrification and solar energy projects.
- Facilitating investment in renewable energy projects, such as a 40 MW Biomass Power Plant, battery energy storage systems, and a renewable energy credit line.
- Critical raw materials
Enhancing Namibia's raw materials sector, supporting green growth and sustainable resource management is core to the EU Namibia strategic partnership, notably by:
- Promoting transparency in the mining and minerals sector, including support for Namibia's potential participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
- Identifying and facilitating sustainable raw material value chain investments through the Africa Maval project, EU-Namibia business fora and other efforts.
- Building capacity for geological exploration, through support to the Geological Survey of Namibia and projects and studies on geological mapping.
- Water
Increasing access to clean water and building capacity for sustainable water use. Our actions include:
- Supporting the Water Sector through a programme for improved water supply, including loans and grants for key projects.
- Securing Windhoek’s water supply by funding wastewater treatment plants, potable water reclamation, and water loss reduction initiatives.
- Conducting a feasibility study for a masterplan to ensure sustainable water supply to Namibia's central northern area.
- Supporting integrated water resource management in the Cubango-Okavango River Basin through a regional transborder water management programme.
- Environment, biodiversity, agriculture and blue economy
Our efforts focus on environmental conservation and climate change mitigation in Namibia, aiming to protect natural resources, enhance biodiversity, and support a sustainable blue economy. Key initiatives include:
- Supporting ocean conservation through the Integrated Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) project for a sustainable blue economy.
- Promoting transborder water basin management in Southern Africa to improve regional environmental cooperation.
- Mitigating climate change by supporting Namibia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) through the GCCA+ initiative.
- Conserving biodiversity by supporting key transfrontier conservation areas across Southern Africa through NaturAfrica.
- Improving livelihoods through the Livestock Support Programme, focusing on agribusiness and sustainable farming practices in Namibia's Northern Communal Areas.
- Transport
The EU and Namibia partner to improve transport infrastructure and governance, focusing on strategic corridors and road transport systems. Key initiatives include:
- Conducting a scoping study for Corridor No. 9 (Maputo-Gaborone-Walvis Bay) as part of the AfricaRISE project.
- Supporting trade and transport facilitation measures for strategic African corridors, with funding allocated to Namibia.
- Enhancing road transport governance through targeted support for road transport systems in Namibia.
- Governance and civil society
The EU partners with Namibia to strengthen governance frameworks and civil society organisation (CSOs) in Namibia, enhance gender equality, combat corruption, and improve economic governance, to contribute to a more transparent and accountable system Key initiatives include:
- Supporting the development of a national strategy to combat gender-based violence and promote gender equality.
- Enhancing CSO capacities in promoting evidence-based policy advocacy and participate in policy dialogue towards a well-governed, equitable and inclusive green growth, energy and extractives industry.
- Building the capacity of Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Commission to combat corruption.
- Enhancing economic governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, with capacity-building initiatives to modernise institutions and train officials in Namibia.
- Promoting green and circular business models as well as capacity development and strengthening of the regulatory and policy frameworks
- Promoting participatory democracy, strengthening civic education and access to human rights.
- Increasing port security and targeting illicit financial flows to combat transnational organised crime and terrorism.
- Education, culture and youth
Our actions aim to enhance education and skills development in Namibia, with a focus on early childhood development, vocational training, and educational mobility. By supporting key initiatives in these areas, we seek to improve access to quality education, promote employability, and build a sustainable workforce for the future. Key initiatives include:
- Supporting Early Childhood Development (ECD) and pre-primary education through budget support, including school feeding and teacher training.
- Promoting technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the green transition, alongside support for vocational training centres with solar installations for sustainable energy supply and enhancing agricultural qualifications for TVET providers.
- Empowering youth through the Africa-EU Youth Lab and Africa-EU Youth Academy, which aim to increase youth participation, leadership, and advocacy in decision-making processes across the AU-EU partnership.
- Namibia also participates in the Creative Africa Audiovisual initiative, in African-European museum partnerships, and in the Erasmus+ programme, e.g. with projects on sustainable entrepreneurial villages, microcredentials, and post-graduate training in maternal mental health in Sub-Saharan Africa.
