The Green Project Built on Genocide in Namibia

The European Union's 2050 climate neutrality targets are fundamentally reshaping the continent's energy strategy and map. Aiming for a 60% emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels, the EU sees green hydrogen as a savior to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. However, this so-called "clean" solution is paving the way for new forms of colonialism by a Europe trying to cover up its dirty and dark history.

Green hydrogen, produced by electrolyzing water using solar and wind energy, is presented as the key to Europe's energy future. Yet behind this eco-friendly solution lies a critical truth: producing one ton of green hydrogen requires 9 tons of pure water, which means serious water crises in countries battling drought.

Renewable energy costs in Europe are high, and European countries do not want to risk their own resources and face potential negative consequences. Therefore, the European Union plans to produce half of the 20 million tons of hydrogen targeted by 2030 within its own continent and import the other half.

Among the countries from which green hydrogen is planned to be imported is Namibia, a southern African nation. Interestingly, the country aiming to turn Namibia into a "green hydrogen field" is Germany, which previously colonized these very lands and killed tens of thousands of innocent indigenous people.

Since 2021, Germany has been making significant investments in Namibia to make it Africa's first green hydrogen hub. To satisfy its own climate change agenda, it sees no issue in re-exploiting the resources of a country it once colonized, under the guise of a "partnership."

Germany's Green Mask

The Tsau Khaeb National Park, located in southwestern Namibia and considered one of the world's richest biodiversity areas, is preparing to host a massive energy project. The "Hyphen Project" green hydrogen plant will be built on this protected peninsula. The project includes the construction of a new deep-water port, with construction slated for completion in 2027 and hydrogen exports to begin in 2029.

On paper, Germany states that the project's aim is to use Namibia's resources sustainably for Namibia's benefit. However, the outcomes of similar projects previously implemented in Africa do not support this optimistic scenario.

The majority of the green hydrogen produced at the facility, to be established with Germany's support, will be exported to Germany. While Europe transitions to clean energy, Namibia, where only 35% of the population has access to electricity, will continue to struggle with power outages.

Green hydrogen production requires large amounts of pure water. The project plans to meet this need by desalinating seawater. However, the concentrated brine resulting from desalination poses a danger to marine life and threatens Namibia's blue economy.

Thousands of hectares of desert ecosystem in the project area will be covered with solar panels and wind turbines. This is a serious threat to the region, which is home to countless plant and animal species unique to Namibia. Local fishing and coastal communities' livelihoods will also be endangered.

This project, conducted under the name of "partnership," will not include knowledge or technology transfer either. While German companies bring their own engineers, Namibian workers will be employed in heavy labor for low wages. The high loans provided for the project's financing will plunge Namibia into long-term debt and lead the country into economic dependency.

Environmental movements in Namibia are issuing serious warnings against this project. Environmentalists say the ecosystem destruction will be "irreversible." According to them, this project is not green; due to the destruction it causes to nature, it should be defined as "red hydrogen." NGOs and human rights organizations are protesting the project, reporting that the indigenous people are not included in the process and that their rights are being violated.

A Second Invasion in Lüderitz: A Plant Built on Genocide

The plant Germany plans to build in Tsau Khaeb National Park also includes the historic town of Lüderitz. Founded in 1883 in the Namib Desert by the Bremen colonial merchant Adolf Lüderitz, this town was the first German settlement in Namibia. It was also here that the first genocide of the 20th century took place. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces massacred approximately 100,000 people from the Herero and Nama ethnic groups. By the end of the genocide, 80% of the Herero people and half of the Nama population had been wiped out.

Prior to the massacre, these people were sent to concentration camps. One of the most infamous of these camps was on Shark Island near Lüderitz. About 3,000 people sent there were subjected to forced labor under harsh conditions and then left to die from starvation, thirst, and torture. Most of the bodies were dumped into the ocean.

Today, the town's main street still bears the name "Bismarckstraße" (Bismarck Street). However, to ensure this great tragedy inflicted by Germany is not forgotten, the local population is building cemeteries, monuments, and memorial sites in and around Lüderitz.

As part of a joint declaration negotiated since 2021, Germany promised Namibia a total of 1.1 billion euros (approximately 1.16 billion dollars) in aid over 30 years. The German state officially apologized during this process, but to date, far from paying any reparations, it continues to seek ways to benefit further from Namibia's resources and people through new projects.

Rethinking Global Projects

Not only for the Hyphen Project specifically, but for all large-scale projects planned by the global North in the global South, some crucial questions must be insistently asked:

• Does the planned project serve only export purposes, or does it also include infrastructure for local use?
• Will the communities living in the area be informed from the outset and during the process? Will they be able to participate in decision-making processes?
• Will the project create sustainable and fair job opportunities for the local population?
• Will the local ecosystem, natural resources, and public health be safeguarded? Who will be responsible in the event of an environmental disaster?

The recent environmental disaster in Zambia, where the collapse of a tailings dam belonging to a Chinese mining company polluted the country's lifeline, the Kafue River, once again shows how vital these questions are.

Similar debates are happening regarding the "South Corridor" project, which aims to transport green hydrogen from Africa to Europe to cover Europe's green energy shortfall. While European industries try to meet their carbon footprint reduction targets through this project, the cost and burden of climate action are once again shifted to the South, i.e., African countries.

For a true partnership to exist, there must be a fair sharing of economic benefits, an improvement in the quality of life for local people, environmental protection, and acknowledgment of past traumas. Europe's "green" projects are nothing more than exporting its own carbon burden to Africa. Moreover, Europe does this so skillfully that it manages to hide the fact that it is Europe, not Africa, that is in need. In the end, Africa still perceives itself as dependent on the outside. It cannot break free from the problems of insecurity and a lack of seriousness in converting its existing potential into power.

An Africa with a long-term energy strategy, developing its own technology, nationalizing its resources, and channeling the power of its youth towards education and production is possible — and much closer than we think. The task for African leaders is to initiate this energy renaissance as soon as possible, without allowing history to be written once again on a foundation of exploitation.

 

This article was originally published in Independent Türkçe, on July 2, 2025.

https://www.indyturk.com/node/761166/t%C3%BCrki%CC%87yeden-sesler/namibyada-soyk%C4%B1r%C4%B1m%C4%B1n-%C3%BCzerine-kurulan-ye%C5%9Fil-proje