Namibia is gaining a global reputation and has recently attracted significant investments. These were the sentiments Nangula Uaandja, CEO of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), who is resolute that the country is full of unlimited prospects and is eager to welcome new investments.
Last week, she announced that Namibia has acquired around N$179 billion in prospective investment possibilities, which have the potential to create additional jobs.
“We emphasise potential because of an accepted risk that some investment projects may not realise due to various factors. The investment pipeline is divided into four segments, namely leads, final investment decision, capital deployed and finally, the operations of businesses,” Uaandja said while responding to queries from New Era.
She added that the good news is that N$7.2 billion is already in operation, while N$25.5 billion refers to projects for which funding has been invested. The data is from projects registered with NIPDB, which represents a sub-set of the country’s total projects.
The NIPDB is the national body tasked with public and private sector collaboration to ensure and promote the nation’s business-conducive climate. As part of their core mandate, they seek to attract and retain investments while at the same time promoting Namibia as a place to develop, live, invest and work in.
However, the investment board documented incidents in which investors expressed interest in Namibia, but then quickly left. These exchanges are especially common during the lead stage when investors gather information such as incentive types, business costs, applicable taxes, market access, administrative processes and land availability.
Last year, she stated that these factors are some of the pertinent issues which force investors to abandon the investment pipeline.
In a quest to solve lengthy administrative processes for investors, the NIPDB last year launched a One-Stop Centre (OSC) to streamline procedures for new and existing investors to enable them to easily conduct business in an enabling investment environment.
Overall, Namibia received record-high foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2022 and 2023. FDI inflows in quarter two (April to June) of 2023 amounted to N$13.5 billion per Bank of Namibia data, which is the highest seen in over a decade. FDI attracted is also notable from a regional perspective, with Namibia attracting the highest FDI, relative to the size of her economy in Africa in 2022, as ranked by the Greenfield FDI Performance Index.
According to the annual standouts watchlist for FDI, Cambodia leads the overall watchlist. Only three African nations, Namibia in fifth place, Kenya in third, and Morocco in eighth, made the top 10.
FDI is defined as an investment made by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another country. This practice is considered an important driver of economic growth.