International law firm Clifford Chance has advised the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) on the entry into an agreement with Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, a Namibian green hydrogen development company, to govern the development, implementation and operation of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest, and its only fully vertically integrated, green hydrogen project.

The total project capital investment of US$10 billion is roughly equivalent to the country’s annual GDP. At full scale development, anticipated before the end of the decade, the project will produce 2 million tonnes of green ammonia annually for regional and global markets.

The pioneering Feasibility and Implementation Agreement (FIA) was signed on 26 May 2023 and governs the process under which Namibia’s first green hydrogen project will be realised, as a first step in the implementation of Namibia’s broader green hydrogen strategy. The approval of the FIA will empower the country to build a greener, more resilient future for generations to come.

At the heart of the FIA is the commitment to the socio-economic development of Namibia, through job creation and local procurement. The project will generate significant income to the Namibian fiscus. GRN also has an opportunity to be a co-investor in the project with the right to take up to a 24% equity interest at cost.

The Government of the Republic of Namibia was on this landmark transaction supported by the African Legal Support Facility, an international organisation hosted by the African Development Bank Group.

The cross-border Clifford Chance team advising the Government of the Republic of Namibia on the pioneering agreement comprised partners Anthony Giustini (Paris) and Christof Häfner (Frankfurt), consultant Gibbs Johnson (Dubai), counsel Nadezhda Varbanova (Paris) as well as associates Elena Prudon (Paris) and Jan Adriaan Botha (Frankfurt, all Project Finance/Energy & Infrastructure).