A monthly wrap-up of News Worth Knowing

NAMIBIA COULD CONSIDER RAND PEG REVIEW AMIDST OIL, GREEN HYDROGEN BOOM

Namibia may consider reviewing its currency peg to the South African Rand if its economy booms due to oil and gas discoveries and development of the country’s green hydrogen sector, according to central bank Governor Johannes !Gawaxab.

!Gawaxab made the remarks following the monetary policy announcement taken to maintain the repo rate at 7.75%.

The prospect that Namibia’s economic structure could change may give renewed discussions about de-pegging from the Rand, !Gawaxab said.

“When you look at what is happening with the economic structure of the country that is changing, what if Namibia becomes a serious oil exporter? What if green hydrogen takes off and we become a large player in that space? We need to think about how we prepare ourselves as a nation in terms of the choice of our exchange regime, but at this stage, the benefits far outweigh the costs,” !Gawaxab said.

De-pegging from the Rand at the moment would lead to a lot of volatility and hurt Namibia, he said.

“Currently, we have got a lot of volatility, the exercises and simulations we have done, we are better off currently. We are better off in the [Common Monetary Area] arrangement,” !Gawaxab said.

At independence in 1990, Namibia opted to remain in the Common Monetary Area (CMA), leaving monetary and exchange rate policies to South Africa. Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank, in its decision to keep the repo rate unchanged at 7.75%, said the decision was guided by disinflation domestically and globally.

“The MPC noted the continued disinflation both globally and domestically. With real interest rates remaining positive, and slow credit growth, amid a fair level of international reserves, the MPC decided to maintain the repo rate at its current level. The policy stance will continue to safeguard the one-to-one link between the Namibia Dollar and the South African Rand and support domestic economic activity,” !Gawaxab said of the decision to maintain the repo rate at 7.75%.

BOLT LAUNCHES PILOT RIDE-HAILING SERVICE IN NAMIBIA

Bolt has launched a pilot ride-hailing service in Namibia and plans to onboard 200 drivers while offering zero commissions for the next six months.

Bolt is a free mobile application that connects drivers and customers and allows customers to conveniently request a driver to pick them up wherever they are and take them where they want to go in a quick, reliable, and affordable way, while drivers registered to the platform can earn money by accepting hire services through the application.

Bolt says its foray into Namibia underscores its commitment to revolutionizing mobility in the region.

“By offering ride-hailing services tailoredto both individual and corporate needs, Bolt aims to provide Namibians with convenient, reliable, and affordable transportation options.”

Laurent Koerge, Head of Expansion at Bolt, said, “Our mission extends beyond merely boosting driver revenues; we aim to ignite demand through competitive pricing. By keeping our commissions substantially lower than our counterparts, we ensure drivers earn more while presenting customers with appealing service fees. Our unwavering dedication to profitability and fairness underscores our belief that happy drivers are the cornerstone of happy customers.”

The move is expected to bring competition to the local market currently serviced by LEFA, InDriver, Dial a Cab, City Cab, and Yango.

Bolt has over 150 million customers in over 45 countries and over 500 cities across Europe and Africa.

NAMPOWER PLANS TO INVEST N$19 BILLION INTO GENERATION, DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURE

The Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower) says it will be spending about N$19.8 billion on electricity generation and transmission expansion in the next five years.

The national power utility Managing Director, Simson Haulofu, said N$9.9 billion will be used on generation projects, N$6.5 billion on transmission lines, while other capital projects will account for N$3.3 billion.

“NamPower is in a sound financial position and boasts a cash reserve of N$10.3 billion, plus an additional N$5 billion debt under consideration by KfW, AfD and World Bank. Thus, our worry is on the funding gap of around N$3.5 billion, which we shall approach new investors,” he said.

“We also received a grant of N$755 million. So this compounds the total funds needed to be spent on these projects from 2024-2029. And this is possible because of our profitability and strong balance sheet,” he said in Cape Town, South Africa where he attended the Mining Indaba.

On generation, Haulofu said NamPower is undertaking a combined 318MW projects in the short term. In the medium term (2-5 years) 455MW projects are lined up.

These are 40MW biomass to be undertaken in quarter 1 of 2027, a 45MW (two hour) BESS will also be commissioned during that period.

Whereas in the fourth quarter, a 100MW BESS, 120MW solar PV (phase I) and 150MW Solar PV phase II will also be initiated. “As a long term beyond five years, we further plan to construct a 100MW BESS, 250MW liquefied natural gas or green hydrogen through Independent Power Producer, 300MW mega wind, as well as 430MW Baynes Hydro Power Plant. These projects will produce a combined 1,080MW. Hence our aim is to become 80% self-sufficient by 2028 and also reach 70% renewable energy by 2030, thus solidifying our security of supply,” he said.

“We also do not just generate without evacuation, thus under the Transmission front. So far, we have completed 400kv Kunene-Omatando as well as 400kv Auas-Gerus. We have ongoing projects of a 400kv Obib-Oranjemund interconnector with South Africa, as well as the 400kv Auas-Kokerboom.”

Other transmission projects lined up are 400kv KuneneCahama interconnector to Angola, 400kv OmatandoOtjikoto, 400kv Namib-Obib, 220kv Otjikoto-Masivi, 400kv Kunene Bynes, including the 330kv Zambezi-Sesheke interconnector to Zambia.

“We are making good progress towards implementing these projects, hopefully, if all goes as planned. In addition, we are negotiating with Angola including South Africa as we work on interconnectors to open up our transmissions into the regional pool,” he said.

“Therefore, NamPower will continue to engage and embrace the changing energy environment. We know many things are happening in the energy environment, especially the new technologies and renewable energy to be specific, be it wind or solar, which we are fortunate to have in abundance. That is why we should ensure that we are well on track and provide such services, while also looking at making a footprint in the region. We need to leverage from this endowment."

“We know that some things are not really cheap, as they seem to be, hence we need support. We also know the positions of mining houses. They have got also their target on renewable energies, especially on the carbon emissions, hence our mission is to meet their demand and be able to supply at any given time,” Haulofu added.