Namibia has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Japanese firms in the areas of oil and gas, and synthetic fuels, Director General of the National Planning Commission, Obeth Kandjoze has announced.
Kandjoze who is attending the 8th Tokyo International Cooperation and Development Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, said the Namibian Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) had inked an MoU with Japan’s Mizuho Bank and Mizuho Securities to, “cooperate on the future of synthetic fuels.”
The Government of Namibia according to the NPC Director General entered into a MoU with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), “on cooperation in developing the critical mineral resources and oil and gas.”
JOGMEC is a Japanese government owned institution charged with securing a stable supply of oil and natural gas and ensuring a stable supply of nonferrous metal and mineral resources.
This comes as the two parties in 2010 signed a MoU to establish cooperation with the intention of expansion of business opportunities for the Parties in both countries.
Furthermore, another MoU was concluded in 2016 through which the cooperation focused on the mapping of base metals and related geology using advanced remote sensing and capacity building on GIS & data processing.
JOGMEC in 2022 partnered Namibia Critical Metals to jointly explore, develop, exploit, refine and distribute rare earth mineral products from Lofdal, in the Kunene region of north-western Namibia.
Japan is the most important consumer of rare earth minerals outside of China.
