The EU-Namibia Partnership

During my recent EU mission to Namibia, I had in mind another Irishman, Seán MacBride, who served as the UN High Commissioner for Namibia during the 1970s in an important period in Namibia’s history pre-independence. Namibia is a stable democracy with robust institutions, free press and strong multilateral credentials, but faces persistent inequality, youth unemployment (35–40%), and a heavy dependence on imports for food and energy. 

Political and economic relations were established in 1990 along with development cooperation. The EU aims to contribute to the stability, economic, environmental and social development of Namibia.

As the world’s largest trading bloc, the EU and its 27 Member States operate under a unified trade policy. This simplifies market access, reduces trade barriers and creates opportunities for economies like Namibia to engage with a stable, high-value market. 

Namibia benefits via the Southern African Development Community (SADC), from a free trade agreement with the European Union. Namibia can with this agreement shield sensitive products from full liberalisation and deploy safeguards when imports from the EU are growing too quickly.

The agreement also contains a chapter on sustainable development and cooperation.

Thanks to the agreement, Namibia has duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market. The EU is also the largest and most diversified trading partner of Namibia, and Namibians enjoy a positive trade surplus with the EU—a key to sustainable growth. This growing partnership strengthens our ties and creates jobs and opportunities that directly benefit the Namibian population. 

The EU also directly supports Namibia to contribute to eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development, prosperity, peace and stability.

The strategic framework for EU-Namibia cooperation is outlined in the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for 2021-2027, which aims to support Namibia’s sustainable development. It focuses on fostering stability, reducing socio-economic inequalities, and promoting equitable access to quality services for all Namibians.

The programme is structured around key priority areas: foundational skills and education, inclusive green growth, good governance and gender equality.

It is in that context that last month, September 2025, a high-level European Union delegation visited Namibia to reinforce bilateral ties. The mission was led by myself as Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development and the Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela. Also on the mission were eight senior Members of the Parliament Committee and Mrs Hilde Vautmans, Chair of the Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly.

The visit aimed to:

• Assess EU investments in Namibia’s green hydrogen and clean energy sectors.
• Strengthen EU–Namibia political and economic cooperation.
• Engage with national authorities, parliamentarians, civil society and the private sector.
• Showcase EU-supported projects under the Global Gateway strategy, particularly in skills development, education and job creation.

The delegation’s three-day programme combined political dialogue, parliamentary engagement and field visits, seeking to demonstrating the 360-degree model: infrastructure + skills + governance.

Firstly, President Nandi-Ndaitwah welcomed the EU delegation, reaffirming Namibia’s commitment to the Strategic Partnership on Green Hydrogen and Critical Raw Materials. She expressed readiness to expand collaboration on clean energy, oil and gas, education and governance, stressing job creation for youth and women.

Commissioner Síkela underlined the EU’s long-term partnership, noting that €1.3 billion in loans and grants under Global Gateway should leverage up to €20 billion in private investment for Namibia’s green industrialisation. He emphasised the EU’s “360-degree approach”: combining infrastructure, skills, and regulatory frameworks.

In the meeting, I echoed the shared vision of sustainable, mutually beneficial value chains, insisting on transparency and accountability as pillars of cooperation.

In my view, the President showed as pragmatic, dynamic and forward-looking, with deep understanding of both national and global contexts. Her leadership and visible gender representation in government (50 % women ministers) was acknowledged by all present.

Afterward, we undertook a field visit to the HOPE Initiative in Tobias Hanyeko informal settlement (Windhoek) with:

• 60 000 residents, extreme poverty, 6–8 persons per household.
• EU partnership since 2011; six grants received.
• Focus on early-childhood education, birth registration, gender-based violence, mental health, upcycling/recycling, and women/youth leadership.

The key messages and learnings from that trip were:

•  EU support reaches marginalised communities through small, grassroots organisations.
• Gender-based violence and youth exclusion remain acute.
• Civil society fills gaps left by weak social services and decentralisation.

The delegation, together with Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, then went on to inaugurate Namibia’s first solar-powered green hydrogen facility, a joint venture between Belgium’s CMB.Tech and Namibia’s Ohlthaver & List Group, with German co-funding.

As Commissioner Síkela said, it was “A tangible start to Namibia’s green hydrogen future under our Global Gateway 360° approach.” In my view, it is a model of how public and private investment can generate shared prosperity.

The EU delegation the next day visited the HyIron Oshivela Plant, Africa’s first zero-emission green-iron facility using locally produced hydrogen. It is expected to have an annual production of 1 million tonnes of green iron and create 6 000 in construction including 900 permanent jobs. This was example of prosperity built on the highest environmental and social standards.

Our conclusions were as follows:

• Namibia remains one of Africa’s most unequal societies despite stability.
• High youth unemployment, weak rural education, and persistent gender violence.

• Green hydrogen and critical-raw-materials sectors can transform Namibia’s economy, but expectations about job numbers must be realistic.
• Potential tension between economic growth and environmental protection—EU support should address both.

• Gender-based violence is pervasive.

Our recommendations are as follows:

1.  Ensure transparent governance of major energy investments
2. Promote exchanges with EU technical schools and companies.
3. Prioritise job creation for youth and women.
4. Strengthen social-protection systems in informal settlements.
5. Integrate climate resilience, biodiversity protection and water security into all projects.
6. Develop community-benefit frameworks for green-energy investments.

The EU mission confirmed that the EU’s Global Gateway has a potential to offer a coherent and forward-looking framework for cooperation with Namibia, linking infrastructure, education, governance and private investment under one vision. Its promise is clear: to turn Namibia into a regional hub for green industrialisation and a model for sustainable growth in Africa. Yet the success of this partnership will depend less on ambition and more on implementation capacity.

Namibia remains a stable and values-aligned partner, with a strong democratic record, solid institutions and abundant renewable resources. However, the administration still faces major challenges in translating vision into action. Ministries and agencies often lack the technical and human resources to manage complex public–private partnerships, while decision-making processes remain highly centralised and risk-averse. The Government’s mindset, though rhetorically progressive, is still rooted in traditional, state-centric practices that slow innovation and deter private investors. Talk of compulsory state ownership in major projects, even if not enacted, has already created hesitation among European companies.

The investment climate therefore needs clearer rules, faster decisions and stronger governance. Transparent procurement, digital permitting, and public data on project performance would help build confidence. Equally, labour-safety standards and environmental safeguards must evolve to match the scale of the green-hydrogen and mining industries. Water scarcity is a particular concern, demanding cumulative impact assessments and basin-level planning. At the same time, the social dimension cannot be secondary: Global Gateway’s credibility rests on delivering visible benefits to ordinary Namibians—education, jobs, gender equality and community inclusion.

Human capital is Namibia’s most pressing bottleneck. The projected shortage of skilled workers could undermine every industrial objective.

Programmes such as IGNITE GH2 and the Hydrogen Academy are crucial starting points, but they must expand rapidly, with deeper links to European training institutions and industry partnerships. Building a skilled and diverse workforce is the only way to ensure that the green transition becomes a source of opportunity rather than frustration.

Despite these limitations, the partnership’s potential is immense. The projects visited demonstrate what can be achieved when European technology and finance align with Namibian ambition. The Global Gateway’s 360-degree approach—connecting infrastructure, skills and governance—has already begun to take shape. What is now required is discipline, realism and continuity: focusing on execution, ensuring that regulatory and fiscal reforms accompany investments, and keeping dialogue open at every level of government.

In short, Namibia is a reliable and promising partner, but one whose institutional maturity still lags behind its aspirations. The EU can play a decisive role not only through financing but by supporting governance reform, decentralisation, and youth participation. If both sides maintain this commitment, Namibia could indeed become a continental reference for how green industrialisation and social justice can advance together. If inertia prevails, however, the risk is that Gateway projects remain isolated successes in an unchanged system. The mission’s clear takeaway is therefore that progress will depend on turning shared ambition into accountable, results-driven and socially responsible governance.

My only regret from the trip was that I did not get to visit Seán MacBride Street in the centre of Windhoek. Maybe on my next trip to Namibia.