By: Dwight Links
Hyphen Namibia and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) signed an agreement on Monday to move the development of its green hydrogen program into the next phase.
The International Hydrogen Ramp Up Program (H2UPPP) is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs & Energy, aimed at supporting entrepreneurs and developers in the early stages of development.
Tobias Gerster, from the GIZ Namibia branch, indicated that the H2UPPP programme is a public-private partnership agreement.
GIZ’s presence in Namibia has spanned over 30 years, involving assistance from education to numerous other sectors.
“From the recent bilateral governmental negotiations held in Lüderitz in November 2025, where over 40 million Euros was provided to various projects around the country, is where this bilateral partnership goes beyond development,” Gerster added.
Emphasising the unique trading relationship between the two nations, Gerster noted that the current volatile situation in the Middle East is an ideal template to further relations in the realm of renewable energy.
“This current climate of the world proves that the relations between both sides have to be strengthened. Therefore, H2UPPP is so important,” he added.
Gerster highlighted that the core objective is to assist in the industrial installation for the next phase.
“To identify, to repair and to implement projects for the production and use of green hydrogen. The program seeks to support export-oriented projects in the Global South to diversify their local economies,” stated Gerster.
According to him, the programme will introduce German technologies assisting with the production and distribution of green hydrogen.
H2UPPP will also support the German state’s energy security. Hyphen Namibia, along with their parent company Enertrag South Africa, applied for the H2UPPP private-public partnership programme that is aimed at a holistic project implementation.
According to the GIZ, the H2UPPP programme aims to support Namibia in its mineral value addition production and exportation, which could reach projected levels of 60% of processed materials under it.
Marco Raffinetti, Hyphen Namibia CEO, noted that the agreement is meant to help drive local content participation, outlining that “This is symbolised by the stable environment that exists internally in the country, and between Namibia and Germany.”
He added that the current relationship between the two countries has evolved into one of more regular trade, as the EU stands as one of Namibia’s key trading partners.
Namibia’s trade in 2025 amounted to N$11.272 billion (almost $688 million) with many trade items featuring a variety of industrial and consumer products.
“This has been a core of what we as a project have been trying to achieve. With Germany being the largest industrial base in Europe, and looking to decarbonise itself, Namibia presents itself as a low-risk, low-cost and scalable partner to Germany to help achieve its ambitions,” noted Raffinetti.
The agreement lays the path leading to equipment suppliers, technology providers, and financiers forming part of the trading ecosystem.
“This is a scene where a large number of those exist outside of Namibia. We need to crowd those parties in and get them to work with our local businesses,” affirmed Raffinetti at the signing event.
The CEO noted that this agreement will potentially also lead to training, skill sets development, and broader benefits for supply chains.
“The aim is for a broader adoption of participants and partners on the local content roadmap,” he added.
The last notable chapter rolled out by Hyphen Namibia was the 2025 Skills Mapping exercise, gauging locally available skills for its green hydrogen programme. With that, sources at the company noted that the programme will demand certain skills for job placement and local participation.
The company still awaits the finalisation of environmental impact assessments for continued development.
