Good idea but could be costly-Simon

…Mines ministry welcomes Hichilema’s proposal to buy Angolan fuel

By Erasmus Shalihaxwe

THE Ministry of Mines and Energy spokesperson Andreas Simon, said the proposal by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema for the two countries, Namibia and Zambia, to collaborate in buying oil and gas from Angola was of good idea but yet a costly exercise.

Simon said this in an interview with Confidente this week in which he addressed he addressed the various challenges facing the oil and gas industry in the country and the world.

While on an official visit to Namibia during the month of October, the Zambia leader, Hichilema said the three countries, Angola, Namibia and Zambia had the potential to trade oil and gas and not rely on other countries that are far away.

He questioned why Namibia and Zambia continues to buy fuel from the Middle East whilst they have a neighbouring country (Angola) that produces the commodity.

Hichilema added that he had urged his cabinet to look into the matter of collaboration saying the three neighbouring countries had been separated for far too long.

“What is it that has separated us for so long? So as you find oil and gas, I said to my cabinet, ‘Let’s go there and be on the ground while we talk to our colleagues, so we don’t have to rely on oil and gas from such faraway places. We are exploring for oil and gas, but we never utilise Angolan oil. I was in Angola two months ago. We don’t want to miss that opportunity with you, so you have a partner in us, you have a friend in us, and we are here to work with businesses,” Hichilema said.

Namibia and Zambia recently signed an agreement to work with the private sector in order to construct an oil and gas pipeline from the Namibian coastal town of Walvis Bay to Zambia.

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