Fishing Takes a Backseat as Namibia’s Government and Investors Follow the Money

Namibia’s commercial fishing industry has traditionally contributed significantly to the country’s GDP. This sector is now having to take a backseat to oil and gas exploration, mining, and green energy solutions which are rapidly becoming the focus of attention. The government and investors are following the money…

Namibia like most other countries worldwide, is currently responding to a higher inflation environment. Like the Reserve Bank of South Africa, the Bank of Namibia started raising rates in early 2022 and the Namibian repo ended Q2-2023 at 7.75%, 50bp lower than the South African repo rate. Both the Namibian and South African consumer inflation rate ended in May at 6.3%.

Most sectors of the economy experienced some degree of positive growth in 2022 led by the mining, electricity and water, and health sectors. Fishing accounted for 2.5% of GDP in 2022.