Last month, Legal Advisor on Hydrogen and currently employed at the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme, Ms Melissa Araes, participated in an information visit to Berlin and Hamburg on the topic of “Hydrogen Industry in Germany.”

This study trip aimed at presenting Germany’s hydrogen policy as a key contribution towards decarbonisation, the enhancement of Germany’s image as a hi-tec country and attractiveness as a responsible private sector and state partner in this spere, as well as countering any misconceptions about Germany’s energy transformation.

Ms Araes had joined other invited professionals from across Africa, Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Over the course of the week, the participants met with public institutions, research bodies, project developers and industrial clusters.

She mentioned that at work, she would spend most of her days contemplating about regulation, institutions and how policy frameworks either enable or delay the energy transition. Witnessing Germany’s green hydrogen industry felt like stepping into a live case study of what could happen when policy, politics and technology all pull in the same direction.

Ms Araes concluded:

“The question is not whether Africa can produce green hydrogen. We already know we can. The real question is whether we can build the institutional clarity, regulatory certainty, enabling policies, infrastructure planning and skills base to turn that potential into industries that create jobs, value and resilience for our people. Germany showed what is possible when strategy, law, finance and technology move together. Germany has its ”house in order“ on hydrogen, and there is a lot the rest of us can learn.”

Background on the Visitors Programme.

The “Visitors Programme” of the Federal Republic of Germany is an important instrument of Germany’s foreign communication/relations. It enables important persons of the host country (multipliers) to participate in fact-finding trips to Germany, each with a specific theme.

Themed trips with guests from all over the world convey an authentic and multifaceted image of Germany and enable the formation of networks. Through the participants’ personal experience, they can forge long-term connections to Germany as well as to the other participants.