CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 24, 2026/APO Group/ –Namibia is demonstrating what is possible in Africa’s energy transition with the continent’s first fully integrated green hydrogen facility.

 




 
The CMB.TECH Namibia facility in Walvis Bay brings together solar power generation, green hydrogen production, and energy storage in a single operational ecosystem, demonstrating how clean energy can be produced at industrial scale while supporting industrial decarbonisation and long-term energy resilience.

 

This landmark project marks a key step in sustainable energy infrastructure. It integrates solar power generation, green hydrogen production, and energy storage within one ecosystem. This shows how clean energy can be produced at scale to support industrial decarbonisation and long-term energy resilience.

“Africa’s first fully integrated green hydrogen facility demonstrates that large-scale clean energy production is not a future ambition, but a present-day reality. Operating successfully in one of the world’s most demanding environments, it showcases the viability of green hydrogen as a cornerstone of the continent’s energy transition,” Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO, Siemens Sub-Saharan Africa, tells ESI Africa (https://apo-opa.co/4d0HFy3), part of VUKA Group.

Hydrogen for local industrialisation in Namibia

The hydrogen produced at CMB.TECH will initially power local industrial applications, like dual-fuel trucks, generators and Namibia’s first hydrogen-powered freight locomotive. In the future, the plant will expand and integrate more with port infrastructure, transforming maritime decarbonisation by refuelling ships with ammonia from green hydrogen.

This will boost Namibia’s renewable energy use and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, especially in the hard-to-decarbonise shipping sector.

As the technology partner underpinning the operation, Siemens provides the integrated electrical, automation and safety infrastructure that enables seamless coordination across the site, creating a high-availability platform that supports the future of green industrial development.

Namibia is one of the sunniest countries in the world, with about 300 sunny days a year, and solar power can be harnessed in abundance. In Walvis Bay, that solar power drives an electrolyser that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. To produce marine fuel, the hydrogen will be combined with nitrogen from the air to create ammonia, which is then liquefied.

“In a region where reliable energy is essential for economic growth and social development, what matters most is a system that simply works,” says Dall’Omo. “The CMB.TECH plant can only deliver on its promise if all technologies operate seamlessly as one. That is where Siemens makes the decisive difference. Working as a ONE tech company and serving as the unified interface for automation, control, and power distribution, we ensure the facility runs reliably from day one.

“Our long presence in the region, deep understanding of local conditions, and close collaboration across our businesses help reduce complexity, solve issues quickly, and keep operations stable. In short, we bring the entire system to life, enabling the plant to become a dependable, future-shaping asset for the customer and the wider community.”

Integrated hydrogen economy

CMB.TECH is a “Living Lab” for an integrated hydrogen economy. “The facility includes a solar-powered off-grid electrolyser for renewable hydrogen production, a refuelling station for hydrogen-powered vehicles and industrial applications, and an on-site Hydrogen Academy for local talent development,” says Roy Campe, Chief Technology Officer at CMB.TECH.

The plant’s 5MWp solar park covers 6.5 hectares and feeds a hydrogen production facility with a 5MW Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyser and a 5.9MWh battery. The fully off-grid electrolyser produces green hydrogen using electricity from the solar park and energy stored in the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).

CMB.TECH built the facility and is using the green hydrogen for its local industrial applications, making the company its own first customer and ensuring a guaranteed buyer from day one. “Many green hydrogen projects are stalling because, while they invest heavily in solar energy and green hydrogen production, there is often no commercial offtake agreement in place to secure demand for the hydrogen produced,” says Dall’Omo.

“Beyond its role as an energy production facility, the project illustrates how green hydrogen can accelerate the decarbonisation of transport and logistics value chains. From supporting local mobility solutions to enabling future maritime refuelling infrastructure, it provides a tangible pathway toward lower-carbon industrial and shipping ecosystems,” says Wiebke Polomka, Senior Manager: Southern Africa, Afrika-Verein der deutschen Wirtschaft.

Hydrogen Academy in Namibia

In addition to ecological and economic effects, knowledge transfer is central. The Hydrogen Academy on site trains drivers, technicians, and scientists and strengthens the labour market. Today, 24 of the facility’s 25 employees are Namibian and received training through the Hydrogen Academy.

“By partnering with local universities and institutions like the Namibia Institute for Mining Technology, the project is training a new generation of engineers and technicians. This creates a sustainable pipeline of local expertise, positioning Namibia as an exporter of not just green molecules, but also the technical knowledge required to operate and maintain a hydrogen economy,” says Johannes Shimbilinga, Municipal Mayor of Walvis Bay.

The plant also provides a model for collaborative energy transformation. “The project underscores the importance of ecosystem-led execution in delivering complex energy transitions,” Dall’Omo concludes. “By bringing together developers, systems integrators, technology partners, and cross-border industry stakeholders, it demonstrates how strategic collaboration can unlock sustainable industrial growth and long-term economic resilience.”

The current 5MWp solar park occupies only a fraction of the available land. “The next step is to increase capacity to 250MW, then to 500,” says Campe. “We want to turn Namibia into a global energy hub and export energy to Europe and the rest of the world. Today we have 7,000 solar panels. In the future, there could be millions.”

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s mining sector is entering a new investment cycle, driven by growing demand for critical minerals, efforts to expand domestic processing and a push to develop the infrastructure needed to move projects from discovery to production. As governments revise mining codes and seek greater local value creation, the legal and regulatory frameworks underpinning these projects are becoming increasingly important to investors.

 




  

That dynamic will be explored at African Mining Week (AMW) 2026, taking place in Cape Town from October 14–16, where legal and advisory specialists will join industry leaders to examine how regulatory frameworks, financing structures and strategic partnerships can accelerate mineral development.

As part of the “Accelerating Mineral Production: The Energy, Water & Waste Nexus” panel, Iyunola Adekanye, Partner at Dentons, and Ope Osinubi, Senior Associate at Clifford Chance, are expected to discuss the legal and policy considerations shaping investment across Africa’s mining value chain. The session comes as mining companies and governments increasingly look beyond resource development itself to address the energy, water and infrastructure constraints that can determine whether projects reach production.

Dentons has been expanding its mining and natural resources capabilities as activity grows across Africa’s critical minerals sector. In June 2026, the firm opened a new office in Kolwezi, the mining hub of the DRC, strengthening its presence in one of the continent’s most important copper and cobalt markets. The move gives the firm a closer base from which to support mining companies and investors navigating the DRC’s regulatory environment, transactions and project development.

The expansion comes as the DRC seeks to attract greater investment into exploration, mining and downstream processing while increasing the domestic value captured from its mineral resources. Dentons’ wider African mining practice spans 17 countries and provides legal support across mining transactions, regulatory matters, project development and investment, reflecting the increasingly cross-border nature of Africa’s mineral supply chains.

Clifford Chance, meanwhile, advises mining companies, financiers and strategic investors on transactions spanning project finance, acquisitions, infrastructure and resource development. Its work across Africa includes advising financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, the African Development Bank, Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement, Standard Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank on financing transactions supporting infrastructure and resource-sector development.

The firm has also advised on major energy and mining-related financings, including a $250 million financing for Aradel Energy in Nigeria, highlighting the growing intersection between resource development, energy infrastructure and access to capital.

At AMW 2026, Adekanye and Osinubi will examine how stronger regulatory frameworks and well-structured partnerships can help reduce investment risk, mobilize capital and address the infrastructure gaps holding back mineral production.

As Africa seeks to move further up the mineral value chain, the ability to align government policy, investor protections, financing structures and infrastructure development will be critical. The discussion at AMW 2026 will highlight the legal architecture behind that investment push – and the role advisors can play in turning ambitious mining strategies into bankable projects.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 26, 2026/APO Group/ –Generative AI can be a powerful business knowledge service, saving considerable time for employees. Yet, concerns grow around AI accuracy and how it handles sensitive information. According to a 2025 KPMG survey (https://apo-opa.co/3UgIjBb), only 46% of company workers trust AI, and that proportion is shrinking, especially since 56% say they are making more mistakes because of AI. 



 

Despite such growing doubts, the technology can be an exceptional information source and time-saver, especially for sensitive, technical, and contextual queries. A South African payroll platform developed these advantages, using AI to provide detailed and contextual information for customer employees and payroll teams.

 

Payroll staff spend considerable amounts of time answering routine questions, such as why someone’s net pay decreased, what amount of taxes they paid, or how much overtime they earned last month. Said staff also have queries around formulas and components, regulations, payroll statuses in different business units, and creating new payroll structures.

 

“Payroll staff juggle a lot of queries,” says Warren van Wyk, Director at Deel Local Payroll, home of the PaySpace payroll platform. “Can generative AI handle those queries while adding real context? We believe it can, but that’s not enough. There has to be trust, accuracy, and oversight. How do we create those things? That was the challenge we set for ourselves.”

 

Building an AI assistant worthy of payroll

 

Generative AI excels at conversing in natural language, changing how we communicate with technology. Already, search engines produce AI-compiled answers that users can expand with follow-up questions.

 

Yet, search answers are relatively simple. An AI that handles payroll queries must meet specific parameters. Van Wyk didn’t want another chatbot that simply responded to keywords. Payroll information is very contextual, and the AI must reflect that. Payroll environments are also full of private information, security limits, and regulations that require strict oversight and privileges.

 

These stipulations define the baseline for a useful generative AI payroll assistant. Thus, the engineers at Deel Local Payroll developed AI Assist, a remarkable assistant that can answer payroll questions tailored to the person asking. Employees get specific answers about their payslips, from what they pay in tax to deductions and overtime.

 

Payroll staff additionally use AI Assist to surface and study specific payroll components and formulas, handle detailed queries, and explore the PaySpace platform’s knowledge base. AI Assist provides answers relevant to an organisation’s payroll setup, such as calculation formulas or listing components sharing specific tax codes. Payroll departments also use AI Assist to understand and exploit the PaySpace system’s features.

 

Building trust in AI

 

However, being helpful is not enough. Generative AI can make mistakes. Firms worry about AI’s access to information. Can someone use AI to learn other people’s salaries? Will the AI unearth forgotten and under-supervised data? What about the current data? Payroll information is incredibly sensitive. What if the AI causes a data leak or embeds that information in its model?

 

Developers understand how crucial it is to answer those concerns and use them as their baseline, says Van Wyk.

 

“We are very conservative with AI Assist’s features, focusing on several important things from the start. We host pre-engagements with our customers to identify specific use cases, and we established several rules. The AI will be native to the platform, not an integration. It will conform to ISO and SOC standards, and it will show a user only what they have authority to access. Nobody can ask AI Assist about other people’s salaries if they don’t have the authority to see those details. If a feature can’t meet those criteria, it goes back onto the shelf.”

 

The team designed AI Assist’s infrastructure to ensure sensitive data doesn’t appear to the wrong user or end up inside an AI’s model. Whenever someone interacts with the AI, it creates a temporary instance on secure Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure. No data leaves that space, and access to data depends on the user’s profile as determined by the PaySpace platform.

 

To reduce the risk of hallucinations and other mistakes, the system doesn’t rely solely on the AI model. It runs subsystems that handle specific queries and data access, passing information to the AI.

 

“We cannot use our customers’ data to train the model,” says Van Wyk. “Instead, we have systems that curate the right data and hand information to the AI, which then responds to the user. This is very important and has two advantages. It stops data from leaking into the AI model, and it improves answer accuracy because we directly control the mechanisms that link the data with AI Assist.”

 

Intuitive and effective

 

Hype and misconceptions cloud generative AI’s potential. Deel Local Payroll avoids these issues by focusing on the technology’s most obvious value and deliberately slowing its development pace to ensure maximum, focused benefits.

 

“We start from a basic premise: how can generative AI make things easier for our customers, whether they are working on payroll or need answers from payroll. How do we create thoughtful communication that gives them answers they can trust? It’s that simple, but it’s still very difficult to figure out because this is a new technology with many unknowns. So, we move carefully, test thoughtfully, and involve our customers through user engagements and beta testing.”

 

The results are incredible: “It’s amazing; there’s nothing like it. This will change payroll and every aspect of how we engage with business information. Generative AI done right is changing business for the better.”