Global consultancy firm McKinsey and Company will pocket N$34.6 million (€2 million) to draft Namibia’s green hydrogen strategy, The Brief can reveal.
The country set aside N$87 million for consultancy work on its multibillion-dollar green hydrogen projects, as well as drafting a plan to promote the country’s green hydrogen sector.
Namibian consultancy and advisory firm, Monasa Advisory & Associates has been subcontracted for some of the work.
The tab is being funded by the Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research, (BMBF).
Besides Mckinsey, the government has enlisted the services of SYSTEMIQ, Cranmore, Hinicio, Clifford Chance, NREL.
“Despite the involvement of all these firms, it is crucial that the Government still puts shoulder to shoulder to execute the vision and plans that are jointly crafted with the Namibian private sector,” Presidential Economic Advisor and Green Hydrogen Commissioner James Mnyupe, told The Brief.
Mnyupe said the Namibian Government was fortunate to have received support from the German Government and the African Development Bank that enabled it to mobilise all of the above experts without incurring any fiscal expenses.
In addition, Namibia also secured almost N$53 million (US$3 million) through the African legal support facility (ALSF) from the African Development Bank.
However, this budget will be consumed over a two-years period.
“The other consultants are being funded by the ALSF from the AFDB. The ALSF ran the procurement process given that it’s a grant from the ALSF and other donors. Ministry of Finance and Attorney General’s Office were involved in reviewing the proposed arrangements from the ALSF and these were presented to the GHC for consideration,” said the Green Hydrogen Commissioner.
He said in terms of the work distribution all the consultants are contributing to the strategy in one way or another.
“The other consultants (apart from McKinsey and Monasa) are assuring the government negotiating team with negotiations with Hyphen so that we can get to an implementation agreement as soon as possible,” he explained.
The consistency tender was awarded by a Strategic Working Committee which is a partnership between Germany and Namibia, according to Mnyupe.
The Commissioner said the strategy is an example of impactful economic diplomacy which has been spearheaded by the Head of State and the Cabinet.
“The only way the Namibian Government envisions the incubation of a successful and thriving synthetic fuels industry in Namibia is through full cooperation between the Namibian Public and Private Sector and all the international counterparts that want to see Namibia succeed.
“We continue to encourage all Namibians to continue working well with local and international partners as we all push forward towards realising the aspirations of Vision 2030, which were boldly articulated by our founding fathers,” Mnyupe said.
This comes as the country has ambitions to be one of Africa’s first green hydrogen export hubs.
The government is banking on green hydrogen to attract more than N$107 billion (US$6 billion) in foreign direct investment (FDI) which is anticipated to generate annual revenues more than N$1.4 billion (US$800 million), while also contributing to its much-anticipated Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Earlier this month, Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, the preferred bidder to implement the country’s first green hydrogen project, has expressed optimism that the Namibian government will sign off an agreement before the year ends.
