A monthly wrap-up of News Worth Knowing

Fraudsters step up phone and online scams in Namibia

According to the Namibia findings of the TransUnion H1 2025 Update to the State of Omnichannel Fraud Report, 63% of respondents reported attempted fraud via email, online platforms, phone calls or text messages between November and December 2024.

The most frequently reported fraud scheme was vishing, where criminals attempt to extract personal information over the phone, cited by 30% of those who had been targeted.

“While cybercriminals will attack at any time using any channel, they appear to focus on channels most popular in the regions they are targeting.”

Namibia records N$1.4 billion in fish exports in April

Namibia exported fish worth N$1.4 billion in April 2025, making it the country’s third-largest export product for the month and a key driver of a N$548 million food trade surplus, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).

“Fish occupied the third position, accounting for 11.5% of total exports, destined mainly for the Spanish, Zambian and Italian markets,” the NSA stated.

The food trade surplus was primarily supported by the strong performance of fish exports, which made up 78.4% of the food export basket.

Govt spends over N$100 million in livestock subsidies

The government has disbursed N$101,017,803 to 23,203 farmers under the Livestock Marketing Incentive Programme, according to figures released by the Office of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare said a total of 25,422 claims have been submitted since October 2023, with outstanding claims valued at N$8,782,129 still under processing.

The subsidy programme is funded through the National Emergency Disaster Fund and includes payouts for livestock sales, grazing leases, fodder, licks, and transport.

The total value of claims submitted so far stands at N$109,799,932.

The government allocated N$100 million to the drought relief programme for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years.

“This programme is a collaboration between the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture, which manages the technical side. Our role is payment once claims are properly verified,” said Ngurare.

Erongo Desalination Plant supplies over 123 million cubic metres of water since 2010

The Erongo Desalination Plant has supplied more than 123 million cubic metres of potable water to the Erongo Region since it began operations in June 2010, operator Orano has announced.

Originally constructed to supply water to Orano’s Trekkopje uranium mine, the plant now serves several municipalities and mining operations across the region.

It is located about 35 kilometres north of Swakopmund, near Wlotzkasbaken, and is recognised as the largest reverse osmosis seawater desalination facility in southern Africa.

The desalination process involves multi-stage filtration and reverse osmosis, using high-pressure pumps and energy recovery systems to improve efficiency. Orano said the plant’s on-site laboratory continuously monitors water quality to ensure it meets both NamWater and World Health Organization standards.

Inflation slows to 3.5% in May as food and alcohol keep upward pressure

Releasing its latest Namibia Consumer Price Index (NCPI) bulletin, the NSA reported that the food and non-alcoholic beverages category was the main contributor, adding 1.2 percentage points to the annual figure.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels followed, contributing 0.9 percentage points, while alcoholic beverages and tobacco accounted for 0.8 percentage points.

The headline annual inflation rate for April 2025 stood at 3.6%, compared to 4.8% registered in April 2024.

Hotels, cafés and restaurants registered a 5.7% annual increase, while education costs rose by 4.3% and recreation and culture by 4.2%.

Housing and utilities, the largest component of the consumer basket at 28.4%.