On the 29th of July 2023, SASSCAL participated in the Empowered and Released Career Expo 2023 titled ““Enhancing Youth Participatory in Wealth Discoveries” with the aim of increasing the visibility and awareness of the Youth for Green Hydrogen Programme.
The aim of the Expo which was hosted and organised by faith-based Grand Harvest Ministries was to create awareness and learn career guidance and exposure before they transition to institutions of higher learning in pursuit of their academic and vocational careers. The event was attended by over 100 learners, life-skill teachers, principals and industry experts in the Green Hydrogen, Oil and Gas industries. SASSCAL as the main sponsor took the opportunity to amplify its advocacy and awareness campaign for renewable energies-focused careers among the youth in Namibia. It is during such a time and era in which the country is rolling out a massive Hydrogen Investment Initiative in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany (BMBF) under the Joint Communique of Intent (JCoI) signed on 25th of August 2021.
During the Expo, SASSCAL presented in detail the Green Hydrogen Initiative, how it aims to benefit the participating countries, as well as the opening opportunities for the youth which encompasses Green Hydrogen focused Capacity Development Programme, Youth for Green Hydrogen Scholarship (Y4H2) and future job opportunities in the sector.
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Executive Director Ms. Sanet Steenkamp, Director of Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture raised the spotlight on the volatility of the career landscape that is undergoing a massive overhaul worldwide to align with the global priorities such as climate change mitigation, transitioning to renewable energies and taming of high emission economic activities.
In the words of Ms. Steenkamp, the Director of Quality Assurance said that “one of the most important things, I would like our learners to keep in mind when they make a career decision is that change is constant. We must be aware of the changing nature of the world of work and thus we must master the skills of curiosity, innovation, adaptability, and resilience. Every change, good or bad brings new opportunities”.
Meanwhile, SASSCAL’s Senior Professional Officer for Human Capacity Development, Mr. Kevin Stephanus presented to the sitting audience the general mandate of SASSCAL, its Capacity Development programmes and the recently awarded 70 Y4H2 scholarships by SASSCAL’s main and initial funder the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to Namibian Learners for the year 2023.
Mr. Stephanus also encouraged learners to be on the lookout for a new call of invitations for applications which is going to be published in the next month for a new Youth for Green Hydrogen Scholarships studies intake for next year for Namibian learners.
At the expo, learners demonstrated deep interest towards the aspects of the green hydrogen scholarships as well as other careers within the oil and gas industry. Learners posed more questions related to these emerging fields creating an interactive information sharing to SASSCAL.
During the proceedings of the expo, the learners were encouraged and motivated to prioritize and take an active interest in the emerging 4th Industrial Revolution value chain that is characterised by more investment and industrialisation based on renewables.
The Green Hydrogen Initiative taking center stage in Namibia is pioneered by the cooperation of Namibia and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany who signed a Joint Communique of Intent (JCoI) on 25th of August 2021 to promote cooperation in the fields of green hydrogen and its associated derivatives, renewable electricity and associated infrastructure development.
Under this Joint Communique of Intent SASSCAL works together with the Government of Namibia, the Government of Germany and other partner institutions as the main entrusted implementing agent for the Green Hydrogen Initiative. Currently, the initiative is demarcated into three focus areas namely the Green Hydrogen Strategy which builds the roadmap and the future path for the Green Hydrogen Investments in Namibia, the Green Hydrogen Pilot Project, which is a set of demonstration projects, accompanying research projects, preparatory scientific analyses and studies paving way for a massive roll out of the programme and lastly the Capacity Building Programme which aims to create preparedness of the Namibian citizens in terms of skills, expertise and entrepreneurship.
