Hyphen’s procurement must not exclude locals – economist

Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) economist Gabriel Erastus has urged Hyphen Hydrogen Energy to consider local capacity when drafting procurement requirements to ensure local participation in the envisioned multi-billion-dollar green hydrogen project.Erastus made this statement on Friday in Oshakati during a community engagement roadshow aimed at informing business owners and entrepreneurs on how to position themselves to benefit from the project.He urged the organisation to be cognisant of the "capacity gap to ensure the project procurement framework enables onboarding of local contractors,” Erastus said.He said Hyphen should explore avenues that are not exclusionary and added: “The majority of you are not even above 35 and if they go ask in their procurement rule to say you should have performed or have a project portfolio of N$500 million... come on, I&#039;m not even 35.”He said Hyphen’s procurement framework “should intentionally enable us to participate.”Outlining opportunities The event was organised by the NCCI and the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) and saw more than 50 entrepreneurs attend.According to Hyphen spokesperson Ricardo Goagoseb, the purpose of the information-sharing roadshow is to "create awareness around procurement opportunities that will be available for Namibians during the construction and the operation of the Hyphen hydrogen project."Goagoseb explained: “This is a requirement that is included in the concession agreement where there&#039;s a target that has been set of around 30%. That might increase, or it might come down a little bit as well, depending, of course, on the capacity that&#039;s available."He underlined that the project is being built on "the highest international standards."The International Finance Corporation (IFC) standards are what we are following – the creative principles. So those requirements, companies should be able to meet in order for them to be able to work on the project.“So we&#039;re just talking to them, saying that these are the opportunities that are available. This is how you can get prepared, and potentially, of course, the other side is also enterprise support and development that we&#039;re also going to do for local businesses to help them to get on par to be able to qualify and get this work that will be coming from the project.”kenya@nmh-hub.com.na

Hyphen’s procurement must not exclude locals – economist

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-19

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Hyphen’s procurement must not exclude locals – economist

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-19

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