From Investment to Opportunity: Building Skills and Industries for Namibia's Green Future

Windhoek, Namibia. A decade ago, careers in green hydrogen barely existed in Namibia. Today, young professionals, such as process engineers, one at the Daures Green Hydrogen Village are helping shape an industry that many believe could transform the country’s economic future. Their experience reflects a broader national ambition; ensuring that Namibia’s green investment boom creates lasting opportunities for Namibia. 

Namibia is attracting unprecedented investment in renewable energy, green hydrogen and associated industries. According to the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) official investment pipeline and portfolio data, projects that have already reached Final Investment Decision (FID) represent investments exceeding N$32.2 billion and are expected to create approximately 15,000 jobs, while the country's broader green investment pipeline exceeds N$174.9 billion.

Yet the success of Namibia’s green transition will not be measured by the value of investments announced.  The critical question is whether these investments can be transformed into decent work, competitive local industries and lasting economic opportunities for Namibians, particularly young people, women and local communities. Recognising this opportunity, the Government of Namibia, together with NIPDB, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the wider United Nations system, is supporting a coordinated effort to ensure that investment, skills development, industrialisation and job creation advance together.

From Investment to Skills

Large scale investments can only translate into employment if Namibians possess the skills required by emerging industries. Developed jointly by NIPDB and the ILO using the internationally recognised Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification (STED) methodology, the Energy Sector Skills Strategy provides an evidence-based roadmap for identifying future workforce needs and aligning education, training and labour market systems with industry demands. Rather than waiting for skills shortages to emerge, this strategy helps Government, employers and education providers prepare workers before industries reach full scale. The objective is straightforward – to ensure that Namibians are ready to fill the jobs  created by the country's expanding green economy.

Jessica Hauuanga, Executive for Investor Experience at NIPDB, underscored this point that: "At NIPDB, our mandate is not simply to attract investment. Our responsibility is to ensure that every dollar invested translates into structural transformation for Namibia's economy. Capital is mobile, but sustainable development must be local. That means building the skilled workforce our industries need so that Namibians are at the centre of this transformation."

The Strategy identifies future occupations, skills requirements and reforms needed to strengthen Namibia's education and training systems through curriculum reform, industry partnerships, work-based learning and apprenticeships.

Building Industries That Create Jobs

Preparing people is only one part of the equation. Those skills must be matched by competitive industries capable of creating productive employment, strengthening local value chains and generating opportunities for Namibian enterprises. Through the GEF 8 Global Clean Hydrogen Programme Namibia Child Project and the Accelerate to Demonstrate Facility, UNIDO is supporting Namibia to strengthen industrial capacity, promote local value addition, facilitate technology transfer and demonstrate practical applications of clean hydrogen technologies.

While STED focuses on preparing Namibia's workforce needed for the future economy, UNIDO’s work focuses on building the industries that can employ that workforce. Together these efforts help to ensure that green investment delivers long-term economic transformation rather than short-term construction activity alone.

As UNIDO Project Manager, Sven Schuppener, notes that Namibia’s opportunity lies not only in producing clean energy but in using that opportunity to create jobs, strengthen industries and deliver lasting benefits for communities.

One National Priority, One United Nations Response

What makes these initiatives particularly significant is that they demonstrate how different United Nations mandates can align behind a single national development objective.The ILO contributes expertise in skills development, labour markets and decent work. UNIDO contributes industrial development, green industrialisation, innovation and local value addition. Working alongside Government, NIPDB, industry and education institutions, these complementary efforts help address two sides of the same challenge: preparing Namibians for future jobs while helping build the industries that will create them. 

Together, they illustrate how the United Nations is aligning its comparative advantages behind Namibia's ambition to ensure that the green transition is not only environmentally sustainable, but also inclusive, job-rich and people-centred. 

From Strategy to Community Impact

The Daures Green Hydrogen Village offers a glimpse of what this vision looks like in practice. Combining renewable energy, green hydrogen, sustainable agriculture, green fertiliser production and technical training, demonstrates how climate innovation can create opportunities while preparing the workforce needed for Namibia's future economy. Approximately 75 per cent of the workforce comes from the Daures Daman Constituency, while technical training, mentoring and study tours are creating opportunities for youth, graduates, researchers and local communities.

For Jason, who oversees agricultural production, and Jeremiah, a process engineer, the green transition is no longer an abstract policy discussion. It is a source of skills, employment and opportunity in a sector that scarcely existed a decade ago. Their experience points to what success could look like at scale.

People at the Centre

United Nations Resident Coordinator Hopolang Phororo captured the central challenge: "The true measure of success will not be the volume of investment attracted or the scale of projects announced. It will be the extent to which these opportunities improve the lives of Namibians." Government leadership, supported by industry, academia, development partners and the United Nations, is helping ensure that Namibia's green transition delivers more than economic growth by creating decent work, strengthening institutions, expanding opportunities for women and young people and building resilient local value chains.

Creating Lasting Opportunities

Ultimately, Namibia's green transition is about more than renewable energy or hydrogen production. It is about ensuring that unprecedented investment creates lasting opportunities for Namibians. By connecting investment with skills development, industrialisation, local value addition and community participation, Namibia is laying the foundations for a green economy that is globally competitive, economically inclusive and people centred. If successful, Namibia's experience will demonstrate how countries rich in renewable resources can transform investment into opportunity, creating cleaner industries, better jobs, stronger institutions and lasting prosperity for future generations.