By: Dwight Links
The Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) and Namibia’s hydrogen industry have locked horns over the accuracy of the withdrawal of the German energy company Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerk (RWE).
A consortium supporting the NTLA stated that the withdrawal of the energy company is a result of their pressure through a letter they sent to the company dated 2 April 2025.
However, Hyphen communications executive Ricardo Goagoseb indicated that there is no accuracy to this claim, and that the withdrawal is based on market factors across the world.
“We are disappointed to see inaccurate information being reported about the status of a memorandum of understanding between Hyphen and RWE. RWE has issued a statement saying there is no causal link between information shared by the NTLA and RWE’s decision not to pursue any projects in Namibia,” Hyphen said in the statement.
He said RWE’s decisions to focus on its portfolio of domestic European projects has no bearing on the future development potential of the Hyphen project.
Goagoseb explained that Hyphen continues to engage with a number of potential strategic offtakers in Europe and Asia, as the project remains one of the lowest costing, lowest risk and most advanced large-scale green ammonia projects globally.
The statement released on 25 September by the Namibian genocide consortium of the NTLA, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Forensic Architecture (FA), and Minority Rights Group International (MRG) indicates that they scored a win.
“The German energy company RWE has pulled out of its agreement to purchase ammonia for export to Europe from the Hyphen Hydrogen Energy Ltd. (Hyphen) project in Namibia, on ancestral Nama land. This decision was confirmed in a response to an enquiry made by the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) and its affiliates,” the statement highlighted.
According to the consortium, the project is being developed without the involvement of the local traditional leaders and without their consent on the ancestral land of the Sperrgebiet (Forbidden Zone) in the //Kharas region.
Hyphen intends to build large-scale ammonia production infrastructure across a 4000 km² concession in the Tsau||Khaeb National Park, formerly declared a restricted area by German colonisers.
Hyphen is a British-German joint venture registered in Namibia, with the German company Enertrag SE among its shareholders.
The proclaimed victory is cited in that the MoU signed between RWe and Hyphen in 2022 has collapsed as a result of their efforts to dissuade the German company from working with local projects. The two companies had signed this MoU for the purchase of ammonia.
In an open letter sent on 2 April 2025, the various organisations urged RWE to pull out, out of respect for the rights of the Nama people. The letter informed RWE about the perpetuation of colonial patterns through German orders of land dispossession and extermination, a genocide that led to the decimation of 50% of the Nama people, as well as the destruction of a biodiversity hotspot.
INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
The NTLA says it calls on the Namibian government to fulfill its international human rights obligations and guarantee the right to self-determination for free, prior, and informed consent in every project planned on their ancestral land.
“The government must no longer plan such projects over the heads of affected communities,” says Maboss Johannes Ortmann, NTLA’s project coordinator for genocide reparations.
“International law requires Namibia to inform, consult, and seek the consent of the indigenous peoples affected by any administrative or legal measure. This obligation includes the right to say no and must finally be respected,” Ortmann clarified.
“RWE’s withdrawal is an important signal that the rights of indigenous communities cannot be ignored,” says Laura Mahler, STP’s advisor for genocide prevention and the responsibility to protect.
“Economic development in Namibia cannot come at the expense of indigenous rights,” added Andrea Pietrafesa, Legal Advisor at ECCHR.
“This is a wake-up call. Any project in Great Namaqualand or on indigenous ancestral land must respect international human rights obligations. RWE’s decision sets a precedent by refusing to purchase goods produced on land where indigenous rights are violated,” Pietrafesa notes.
RWE’s response spoke to a strategic decision they made in terms of adapting to changes in the global green energy development markets, with Olaf Winter from the company’s communications office explaining that developments with the hydrogen-derived ammonia are moving at a slow pace.
“We can confirm that RWE is currently not pursuing any projects in Namibia. Demand for hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia is developing more slowly than expected in Europe. Against this backdrop, we have reviewed the relevant projects at RWE,” he stated.
He also indicated that they gave a notice of this in November 2024, which included the project with Hyphen in Namibia.
Winter concluded by noting that “There is no causal link between our decision on Namibia and a letter from the NTLA.”
