03/09/2026
This week, we joined Government, industry, training institutions and development partners in Walvis Bay for the Industry Engagement Roundtable on Skills Development for Green Ports and Logistics Value Chains, convened by the NTA in collaboration with the European Union Delegation to Namibia, Enabel and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. The engagement focused on identifying the skills Namibia will need as its port, logistics, green hydrogen, renewable energy and critical raw materials value chains continue to evolve.
As Namibia advances its ambitions in these sectors and transitions towards greener and more technologically advanced ports and logistics value chains, so does the requirement for competencies extending beyond traditional occupations. These include automation and digitalisation, smart-port technologies, renewable energy systems, electrical and mechanical systems, logistics technology, environmental management, occupational health and safety and specialised maritime and port operations.
One factor will ultimately determine how widely these new opportunities benefit Namibians - skills! Therefore, a key focus of the engagement was on bridging the gap between workforce supply and industry demand and translating priority skills into practical training solutions. Industry and TVET institutions explored opportunities for classroom and practical training, simulation and safety training, access to equipment, digital learning, train-the-trainer programmes, internships, workplace learning, mentoring and employment pathways. An objective is to identify up to three priority green skills for pilot intervention, followed by the development of training modules and the selection of training providers and trainees. The proposed pilot envisages two groups of 25 trainees, short training modules and industrial placements, with employment outcomes and lessons learned monitored to inform potential upscaling.
For us at the NTA, this reinforces the important principle of success not being measured only by how many people are trained, but by whether Namibians are being equipped with the right competencies, for the right occupations, at the right time. We believe that this requires industry to clearly articulate its emerging skills needs and training institutions to respond with relevant, quality training.
This initiative forms part of a broader Team Europe and Global Gateway approach to opportunity-driven skills development and green industrialisation, with short-, medium- and long-term interventions involving the EU, Enabel, GIZ Namibia and other partners. These interventions are aligned with Namibia's Vision 2030, NDP6, Hydrogen and Critical Minerals Strategies, National TVET Policy and SDP3 (2026–2030).
