The government of Namibia have taken a firm decision in offering investment opportunities to four (4) brown field green scheme projects and one dairy project. These are available to domestic private sector as well as international investors with demonstrated capacity to operate the schemes through competitive bidding process.
Hon. Anna Shiweda revealed this during the world economic forum that was in Davos.
The green schemes are; Katima Liselo green scheme in Zambezi region (in Kavango west), Neckartal dam green scheme in //Kharas region, Tandjieskoppe green scheme in //Kharas region and Uvhungu dairy project in Kavango east region.
While the dairy project is offered on a lease basis, the 4 brown green schemes are available on a Build Operate and Transfer (BoT) basis. These are projects for which land is already secured.
During the forum, the minister revealed that Namibia still remains a net importer of staple grains, losing out on generating potential foreign currency. Anna believes that maximizing the production potential of green scheme projects could potentially convert Namibia into a net exporter of variety quality crop products. The green scheme programme encourages the development of irrigated agronomic production with a target to place approximately 27 000 hectares under irrigation. The scheme sites are situated along the shared perennial rivers along Namibia`s borders where water is abundant. The investments are expected to promote the production of grains (and cereals) as basic staple food to reach food self-sufficiency, while allowing investors to diversify production into high-value horticulture, crops and fruits.
Investment opportunities in the green schemes come at the same time with the discovery of new opportunities in the green hydrogen industry. Once they materialise, these discoveries can help to lower the trajectory of high production input costs of the agriculture sector. The ammonia by-product presents a viable investment opportunity for fertilizer production industry in Namibia to supply affordable fertilizer in the country and for export markets.