Vice President Lucia Witbooi has announced the creation of a new marine institute to bolster industrial processing and blue economy growth by 2030.
Staff Reporter VICE President Lucia Witbooi has announced plans to establish a Franco-Namibian Marine Institute to train technicians and drive an industrial transformation in which 60% of Namibian marine products will undergo secondary and tertiary processing domestically by 2030.. “With French academic partners, we are establishing a Franco-Namibian Marine Institute to train 1,000 technicians in shipbuilding, aquaculture, and marine robotics by 2030.. This is the kind of partnership that will bring about structural changes in
the blue economy ecosystem in Namibia and the region,” Witbooi said.. Photo: MICT She made the announcement during a round table on the Blue Economy, held as part of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.. Witbooi explained that, by leveraging French expertise in shipping and port management, Namibia can reduce clearance times to 24 hours and deploy hydrogen-powered feeder vessels by 2029.. This, she added, will connect Walvis Bay with Dakar, Abidjan, and Marseille
via a green shipping corridor along the Atlantic Blue Corridor.. “We commend France’s support for the Great Blue Wall initiative.. However, we are also proposing a Franco-African Blue Investment Fund to de-risk marine processing projects,” she urged.. The Vice President stressed that Africa’s resource value chains have long been unbalanced, with the continent largely supplying raw materials rather than driving beneficiation, industrialisation, innovation, and equitable economic growth.. “We must change that equation,” she stressed.. According
to Witbooi, Namibia is already taking steps to ensure that 60% of its marine resources are processed locally by 2030.. “Namibia’s position is very clear: industrial transformation must start where the resources are found.. In Namibia, we are moving from ‘catch and ship’ to ‘catch, process, package, and brand.’ By 2030, under our National Development Plan 6, 60% of all Namibian marine products will undergo secondary and tertiary processing on Namibia’s shores,” Witbooi said.
Namibia marine industry, Franco-Namibian Marine Institute, blue economy, Lucia Witbooi, marine processing, industrial transformation, green shipping