​Lerato Mailoane
With the world moving towards leveraging clean energy sources, South Africa needs to tap into the green hydrogen economy to attract foreign investment and create new opportunities.
"We need to reimagine a civilization based on fundamental principles of environmental sustainability, shared prosperity, and a peaceful co-existence," Premier David Makhura said on Thursday.
Makhura was speaking at the Hydrogen Economy Indaba - a four-part series presented online until 28 October.
The indaba seeks to position and create awareness among South Africans and in particular black entrepreneurs of the emerging hydrogen economy.
The search for new approaches to energy, where hydrogen becomes the main fuel to replace carbon-emitting combustibles like petrol and diesel, provides a new opportunity for entrepreneurs.
The hydrogen economy is estimated to achieve global annual revenues of more than $2.5- Trillion and create more than 30-million jobs globally by 2050 with South Africa having an estimate of R2Trillion or $150 Billion per annum.
"You can't build a new economic model that leaves out businesses and people that have been historically excluded. We are seeking to address this through our special economic zone."
In this regard, Makhura called on participants to invest in mineral beneficiation in partnership with the Industrial Development Special Economic Zone at OR Tambo International Airport.
Gauteng was already in discussions with companies to deploy large-scale embedded generation projects and was supportive of meter systems based on green hydrogen.
Moreover, the province is exploring ways to initiate green hydrogen as an energy source in public transport such as the Gautrain and Bus Rapid Transit systems.
Makhura said another significant opportunity was for Gauteng to produce and supply green aviation fuels to the airport and Airports Company South Africa.
Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize and transform society towards a sustainable future described by scientists as Society 5.0 or the symbiocene.
"We live in turbulent times that are characterised by rapid technological and climate change, the increasing rate of urbanisation particularly in Africa and the south unprecedented inequalities and a perennial threat of pandemics."
According to Makhura, these trends require a change in lifestyles to guarantee a common future for humanity. 
"This means we have to go through the kind of transformation and transitions that protects our planet and that provides a shared prosperity for humanity," he said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that the government has updated the decarbonisation commitment to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement to reach carbon-neutrality, or Net Zero, by 2050.