Iipumbu Sakaria
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) will be releasing this month’s economic statistics in Nkurenkuru, Kavango West region, on 29 March 2023. The statistics to be released are the annual trade bulletin, the 2022 preliminary national accounts, as well as the fourth-quarter agricultural bulletin. The Quarterly Agriculture Statistical Bulletin presents an overview of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery sector in Namibia. The agricultural bulletin will assist users, analysts and researchers during planning and decision-making, as well as carrying out in depth-analysis in the area of agriculture. This publication outlines the fourth-quarter results that cover a period of October 2022 to December 2022.
The preliminary national accounts’ publication contains estimates of National Income, Savings, GDP and External Transactions, and also provides us with the estimates of economic growth for a specific timeframe. Therefore, all eyes should be firmly fixed on how the economy performed over the last year. The NSA will likewise release the annual merchandise trade report, which provides an analysis of Namibia’s trade data. International merchandise trade plays a crucial role in economic development, as it links producers and consumers located in different countries into a global economic system. The NSA will use the time in the Kavango regions to engage the regional leadership on economic statistics.
The NSA will then be having stakeholders’ engagements on economic statistics in the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions. The aim of the statistical workshops is to present and dissect latest economic statistics, and engage stakeholders in the Kavango East & West regions.
The stakeholders’ engagements will be held in the morning of the 29th and 30th March 2023 in Kavango West and Kavango East, respectively. The stakeholders’ engagements will be hosted in Nkurenkuru at the Pahukeni conference centre, and in Rundu at the UNAM Campus, respectively. The discussions will be graced by the leadership of the Kavango East region, inclusive of the governor, and will consist of an update on how the upcoming 2023 population and housing census links to economic statistics. The main statistics to be presented will be the fluctuations of goods and services consumed by households, performance indicators of the agricultural sector, an explanation of Namibia’s international trade in goods as well as the dynamic aspects of businesses in the Kavango East. Furthermore, the revival of Namibia’s economy will be presented, as well as a demonstration that assures the quality of economic statistics produced. Discussions will be included, and students are encouraged to ensure that they take part in this.
The Regional Establishment Census Reports, a new and first of its kind for the NSA, will provide a presentation of all the business establishments in the Kavango regions, and should be highly interesting for economic stakeholders, planners and implementers in the above-mentioned regions and the country at large. The NSA conducted the 2019/2021 Census of Business Establishments between October 2019 and April 2021. The Census of Business Establishments was conducted together with the Population and Housing Census Mapping exercise that visited all physical structures in the country. This was the first Census of Business Establishments to be carried out by the NSA, and will be able to provide information on the number and characteristics of establishments, size of establishments, ownership and employment, amongst many others. The NSA welcomes all residents of the Kavango regions, who are able to make it, to do so to ensure that they are statistically informed.
* Iipumbu Sakaria is the Manager of Corporate Communications at the Namibia Statistics Agency.