Namibian Economic and Market Commentary

The Namibian economy has grown by a CAGR1 of 5.1% over the past 5 years (from 2010 to 2015). However, we expect the GDP growth for 2016 to marginally decrease from 4.5% recorded in 2015 by 0.2% to 4.3%. The main contributors to a lower GDP in 2016 are the restrained growth in the agricultural sector due current drought that has affected the whole Sub Saharan region and low hard commodity prices due to weak global demand. Namibia’s soft commodities production contracted in 2015 from the previous year by 14.0% after a growth of 9.6% which was recorded in 2014. We expect a continued pressure on soft commodities in 2016 harvest season due to drought. In 2015, Namibia’s corn production decreased by 44.0% from the previous year to 38 900 tonnes.

Nam Eco