By Benjamin Wickham
CAPE TOWN, October 18 — The African Energy Chamber’s African Energy Week (AEW) 2023 conference and exhibition had an impactful beginning as Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, opened a dedicated spotlight on Namibia. This significant event, the largest gathering of energy stakeholders and policymakers on the continent, was organized by the African Energy Chamber (www.EnergyChamber.org) and commenced on October 17, 2023, in Cape Town. Minister Alweendo delivered a keynote speech outlining Namibia’s latest developments in oil and gas, as well as the progress in the green hydrogen sector. He also highlighted the abundant investment opportunities emerging across the country.
Minister Alweendo shared, “In relation to the energy transition, our green hydrogen strategy is one of the most important activities that we are carrying out. It is our mission to become a world-class green hydrogen hub. With our new discoveries made this and last year, we are on the cusp of something special. It is our intention to manage our oil and gas sector to transform our economy. We are set to introduce a lot of market policies to ensure that in-country, value is being generated from these oil and gas resources.”
The Invest in Namibia Energies session, sponsored by the Namibia International Energy Conference, presented a lineup of policymakers and company executives who provided a comprehensive overview of the region’s upstream exploration opportunities. Namibia has become one of Africa’s most exciting exploration frontiers, with recent major oil and gas discoveries, including the Venus-1X, Graff-1X, Jonker-1X, La Rona-1X, and Lesedi-1X projects, resulting in an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil reserves offshore. This positions Namibia alongside its northern neighbour, Angola, as one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producers.
Maggy Shino, Petroleum Commissioner for the Minister of Mines and Energy of Namibia, emphasized the need for significant financial support, saying, “Attracting investment follows the results that we see. Everything is much bigger and much better than expected when we were exploring. We are, therefore, looking for bigger financial muscles and companies with more strength to help us take this forward.”
While Namibia was historically overlooked by major oil companies due to limited exploration efforts, the recent discoveries in the offshore Orange Basin and onshore Kavango Basin in 2022 and 2023 are poised to trigger a substantial oil boom in the coming years.
Shiwana Ndeunyema, Acting Managing Director for Namibia’s National Oil Company (NOC), Namcor, acknowledged the importance of addressing carbon emissions during exploration and creating a robust Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy.
Channa Kurukulasuriya, Country Manager for Chevron, highlighted Chevron’s commitment to local content development, aiming to build a robust oil and gas industry within the country.
Nillian N. Mulemi, CEO of the Governmental program, Petrofund, underlined their training initiatives and investment in developing Namibians’ expertise in the oil and gas sector.
The Government of Namibia seeks to engage multinational firms for multi-billion-dollar projects, which will involve exploration, development, transportation, storage, and the refining of petroleum products for export to international markets.
Margaret Nutschler, Vice President for Project Development at CWP Global, discussed the importance of addressing the cost of capital to attract investment.
Ejike Egbuagu, CEO of Moneda Invest Group, introduced a unique concept of transactional equity to facilitate collaboration without relinquishing ownership.
ReconAfrica, an oil and gas exploration company, announced a substantial prospective resource estimate of 22.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Namibia’s onshore PEL 73 license area in the Kavango Basin.
Dr. Klaus Endressen, General Manager for BW Offshore, which operates the Kudu Conventional Gas Field, emphasized the potential for gas-to-power initiatives.
In addition to significant oil and gas discoveries, Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy launched a major green hydrogen project aimed at diversifying the economy and creating a green hydrogen hub in the country. The session concluded with a discussion on Namibia’s renewable energy potential and its role in the global energy transition.
Ndapqilapo Selma Shimutwiken, CEO of RichAfrica Consultancy, praised Namibia for its progressive approach and constitutional protection of the environment.
The Invest in Namibia Energies country spotlight is just one of many spotlights at AEW 2023. #AEW2023 is being held in Cape Town this week, with a mission to eliminate energy poverty by 2030. Stay updated with www.AECWeek.com for more information and exciting updates about Africa’s premier energy event.
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