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Now, I've just come to what was once a railway station called Grassplatz,

or grassy place in the middle of the Namibian desert.

The old station building, which is crumbling, empty window frames.

And it's the only building for miles around as far as you can see.

Over 100 years ago in this spot, a railway labourer called Zacharias Lihuah found a shimmering stone.

His discovery led to a diamond rush in this remote corner of southwest Africa.

Prospectors flooded to the small harbour town of Lydroids nearby,

bringing a boom that lasted a few decades, and then it all faded away.

I'm Johannes Dell, and in this edition of the documentary from the BBC World Service,

I'll be asking whether after decades of being a sleepy backwater, Lederitz is in for another boom,

this time one based on green hydrogen and fueled by the abundance of sun and wind in this part of

Africa. We're seeing new energy, new investments, new opportunities, new services and amenities

that never would have come down to looters.

It is European countries who are pushing a multi-billion mega project here

in a bid to cut dirty emissions from their heavy industries.

I want to know whether Namibia's ambition to become a green hydrogen superpower can succeed.

Will it harm one of the world's most fragile ecosystems? And will the profits

benefit a legion of young unemployed, hoping to become part of a sustainable future?

At the end of the day, Luderitz is a good town for investors to come benefit, but the people from

the town. We don't benefit from the kings. People don't know what big project it actually is.

Follow me to one of the remotest spots in southern Africa

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