26 January was the International Day of Clean Energy, celebrated worldwide to raise awareness and mobilizing action for a just and inclusive transition to clean energy for the benefit of people and the planet. For Namibia, a country rich with untapped world-class renewable energy resources, the moment offers an opportunity to reflect on the country's promising green future and outlining a strategy to address the energy access challenge.  

Namibia’ Rising Energy Influence  

As the world moves forward with restructuring, fossil fuel decline, and renewable technologies rising. Namibia’s offshore oil discoveries open a door to new strategic and consideration, balancing short-term financial prosperity with long-term green development. The decisions made today will shape the future of the country in international partnerships, attracting investment, and access to technology. The geopolitical is not limited to fossil fuel, perhaps touch on clean energy supply chain as well, including investment in critical minerals, renewable technologies advancement, and green hydrogen development increase global influence. Namibia's growing contribution to green hydrogen has the potential to increase its geopolitical significance both in Africa and beyond.  

Clean Energy for Social Development   

Despite its natural advantage and progress toward clean energy, Namibia faces energy poverty. Currently, only 56% of Namibia's population has access to electricity, with 75% living in urban areas, 35% in rural areas, and the remaining 44% still living in the dark. Many rural communities remain unconnected due to dispersed settlements and costly grid expansion. With Namibia importing up to 60% of its electricity, the country is vulnerable to regional supply shocks, and energy poverty continues to limit people’s futures. Lack of electricity shortages deeply affect daily life: students can’t study or access digital learning, clinics struggle to power essential equipment, and households rely on polluting fuels like kerosene and firewood. Energy poverty also widens gender inequality, as women and children spend more time on unpaid labour instead of education or incomegenerating activities. Additionally, limited electricity access especially in rural areas hinders long term socioeconomic development and restricts the use of digital services and emerging AI tools. 

Renewable Energy Promising Future 

The rise of renewable energy sectors opens new job opportunities and boosts local economic development. For young Namibians, the clean energy sector offers plenty of job opportunities, in construction, installation, maintenance, technical training, and research, as well as the ability to start a business and become entrepreneurs.  Moreover, clean energy creates powerful crosssector linkage, such as supporting solarpowered irrigation and cold storage in agriculture, renewable powered desalination for water security, emobility in transport, and using green electricity for mining and tourism sectors.  Additionally, AI in energy present a new opportunity from solar and wind forecasting to smart metering, e-mobility, smart agriculture, strengthening clean energy systems and expanding AI use across the country. 

Challenges facing the Renewable Energy Sector 

One of the challenges observed in the renewable energy sector is policy and regulatory complexity. This includes a prolonged permitting process for renewable energy projects. Additionally, due to the high cost of capital in comparison to developed countries, investment in the renewable energy sector still remains expensive. On top of that, the fluctuation in currency poses long-term investment and planning to be challenging. Thus, this limits private sector investment in the sector. Particularly, for green hydrogen requires major investment in production, storage, and export infrastructure, and its high-water demand makes planning essential in water scarce Namibia. The country’s reliance on imported advanced technology limits its ability to capture value, and without strong local participation, foreign companies may dominate key engineering and construction roles. 

Looking Forward:  

As part of my fellowship journey in Namibia, and with my background in economics and energy, I am committed to contributing to the growth of sustainable energy sector in the country. I aim to apply my technical experience in policy development and designing financial instruments that can unlock resources for enhance investment in renewable energy solutions. As part of my work, I hope to support identify key challenges in the sector and propose practical and economically viable solutions to fasten Namibia clean energy transition.