Namibia Biomass heads visit Europe

Namibia Biomass Industry Group (N-BiG) CEO Progress Kashandula and operations manager Daniel Shagama are currently on an international study tour. They have a series of international meetings and attended a forest conference and fair, KWF Tagung, in Schwarzenborn, Germany. This event is one of Europe's largest fairs, attracting over 50 000 participants and 600 exhibitors from around the world. The fair took place from 17 to 22 June.

They also attended the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE) in Marseille, France, on 24 and 25 June where Kashandula presented a paper on the Namibian biomass industry, focusing on 'Utilising biomass value chains to sustainably control large-scale bush encroachment of the Namibian bush savannah ecosystem'.

Additionally, they participated in the World Bio Market in The Hague, Netherlands, on 26 and 27 June where they engaged with various biomass investors and off-takers.

This tour provided an incredible opportunity to engage with international biomass equipment suppliers, they said. It aimed to prepare the group's members and the broader biomass industry to scale up and meet global standards and specifications in the bio-energy sector. They also connected with potential international experts, explored cutting-edge technologies and forged valuable partnerships to drive the growth of Namibia’s biomass industry.

This study tour is part of a collaboration with the German Bio-Energy Association under Sequa, and was funded by the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development.