Business

WINDHOEK – The Economic Outlook for 2020 by Cirrus Securities, a company started in 2017 with a focus on corporate advisory, capital raising and research, predicts that small businesses in Namibia are expected to remain under pressure during 2020. As a result, and depending on the severity of new government policies, Cirrus expects that many small businesses will either close their doors, or lay off further workers.

WINDHOEK – Namibia National Reinsurance Corporation Limited (NamibRe)’s national scale financial strength rating was upgraded by GCR Ratings on 18 December, 2019, to AA-(NA), from A+(NA), with the outlook accorded as stable.

WINDHOEK - Executive Secretary of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Paulina Mbala Elago and the United Kingdom’s director for economic diplomacy at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Lewis Neal, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support implementation of the ongoing SACU Customs Modernisation Programme.

WINDHOEK - FNB Namibia’s latest rental index report, which was released yesterday, confirms that growth in rental prices remains in contractionary territory with the FNB Rent Price Index, recording a contraction of 1.9 percent at the end of September 2019, compared to a contraction of 8.6 percent over the same period last year.

WINDHOEK – Activity in the construction sector, which is an excellent barometer of economic strength, started with a gradual recovery during the third quarter of 2019.

WINDHOEK - The annual inflation rate for December 2019 stood at 2.6 percent compared to 5.1 percent registered in December 2018, indicating an inflationary slowdown of 2.5 percentage points.

WINDHOEK - Team Namibia, the member-based organisation has the mandate to contribute towards “Growth at Home” and secure optimal market access for Namibian businesses with the mission to ultimately impact economic sustainability.

WINDHOEK - Bank Windhoek has confirmed the appointment of Frieda Beukes as its new Oshakati Branch Manager, effective 1 January 2020. 

WINDHOEK - In the latest FNB Residential Property Report, FNB’s Group Economist, Ruusa Nandago, states that the FNB House Price Index plunged further into negative territory at the end of September 2019, reaching a historic low of -5.1 percent y/y compared to 2.0 percent recorded over the same period last year.

WINDHOEK – Local electricity generation decreased last year mainly as a result of inadequate water inflow into the Ruacana hydropower plant.