Namibia is at the forefront of advocating economic regional integration. Another partnership is the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) which allows for tariff-free movement of goods between Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland. SACU also has a Trade, Investment and Development Co-operation Agreement (TIDCA) with the United States, and is negotiating free trade agreements with China, India, Kenya, and Nigeria. Economic breakdown:• GDP (2012): $13.07-billion (World Bank); • Annual growth rate (2012): 5% (World Bank); • Per capita GNI (2012): $5,640 (World Bank); • Average annual inflation rate (2012): 6.5% (World Bank); • Natural resources: Diamonds, uranium, zinc, gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, tungsten, fluorspar, salt, hydropower, fisheries, and wildlife – suspected deposits of oil, coal, and iron ore; • Agriculture (2011): 7.2% of GDP (livestock and meat products, crop farming and forestry – Ministry of Agriculture, Water & Forestry); • Mining (2012): 11.5% of GDP (Gem-quality diamonds, uranium, zinc, copper, other – Namibia Chamber of Mines);
• Trade: Major partners are South Africa, Angola, European Union (EU), U.S, Canada, China, and India (WTO). Namibia’s main exports partners are South Africa (27% of total), UK (17%), USA, Angola, Netherlands and Spain. South Africa is Namibia’s main import partner (66% of total), followed by the Netherlands, UK and China; • Exports (2013 forecast): NAD9515.74million (diamonds – 25% of total exports, uranium, zinc, copper, lead, tin, silver, tungsten, manufactured products, beef, cattle, fish, karakul pelts, and grapes); • Imports (2013 forecast): NAD12595.42million (food products, petroleum and fuel, machinery, chemicals, construction material, manufactured goods). Namibia was named the top emerging market economy in Africa by Bloomberg in 2013. The 13th best in the world, Namibia was one of only four African countries to make the Top 20 Emerging Markets list in the March 2013 issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine. Namibia was listed ahead of Morocco, South Africa and Zambia. Countries were also rated on areas of interest for investors, including ease of business, level of corruption and economic freedom. The World Bank also classifies Namibia as an Upper Middle Income country – ranking 87 out of 185 economies for ease of doing business.
Best of Namibia
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