EAN commentary – Moody’s downgrades Namibia to non-investment grade
Moody’s downgrades Namibia to non-investment grade Moody’s Investors Services has downgraded Namibia’s long-term senior unsecured bond and issuer rating from Baa3 to Ba1 with a negative outlook on 11 August 2017. This has moved Namibia from a lower-medium investment grade to a non-investment grade or to ‘junk’ status as it is often referred to. Moody’s […]
Perpetuating inequality on a daily basis – By Klaus Schade
Reducing income inequality has been one of Namibia’s national development objectives since independence. Although some progress has been made using the Gini-coefficient as a measure, much more needs to be done. High income inequality is not only detrimental to social cohesion and social development, but also to economic development. The better off in society spend […]
Incentivising and Financing Quality Education Acceleration through Edu-Points – By Jan-Barend Scheepers
The Namibian Employment paradox is that we have massive unemployment, but almost all skilled sectors complain of massive Namibian skill shortages. How do we bridge this gap? Education, skills transfer and mentoring. The government is already investing heavily to address this but maybe the private sector can help build an efficient bridge? Enter an Education […]
UK trade minister meets government and private sector for smooth transition to new trade agreements between Namibia and the United Kingdom.
Posted by Musa Carter | Jul 21, 2017 | Headlines British businessman turned politician, Lord Mark Ian Price, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State at the Department for International Trade flew into Windhoek on Thursday morning for a carousel of meetings with government officials, private companies and trade organisations. He departed back to South Africa the same evening. On Thursday […]
Applaud SADC for progress in regional integration
Windhoek – There is progress and achievement in a number of regional integration projects in the Southern African region, which are often not known or acknowledged despite existing challenges, says Klaus Schade, Executive Director of Economic Association of Namibia (EAN). He said that in the area of trade most SADC member states have reduced tariffs […]
Inflation continues to come down – relief for households with basic commodities except meat
Namibian inflation, measured monthly and compared to the same month a year ago, moderated during June 2017, continuing the declining trend since its peak in January this year. The latest statistics for the Namibian Consumer Price Index, released by Statistician General, Mr Alex Shimuafeni on Thursday morning, 13 July 2017, show that annual inflation continued […]
Sick economy reacts well to consolidation medicine
Windhoek-Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein is reasonably optimistic that the country’s economic activity will pick up pace this year, relative to the slowdown in 2016. However, he expects the recovery to be gradual, given the localised recessionary pressures since the third quarter of 2016. “The year 2017 started off on a cautionary note of weak domestic […]
NSA releases Consumer Price Index for June 2017
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has released the Consumer Price Index for June 2017 today. Inflation continued its downward trend that started in February 2017. Herewith a few highlights: Inflation slowed down to 6.1 percent compared to June 2016; Slowest price increases since February 2016; 2.1 percentage points below the inflation rate in January 2017 […]
More signs of business unusual – Klaus Schade
Over the past year or so, there are signs that the call for business unusual is heeded. The Ministry of Finance has applied expenditure brakes in order to rein in rising budget deficits and public debts. In particular, wasteful expenditure such as subsistence and travel allowances, overtime payments, etc. have been cut substantially, while investment […]
Economic Association holds annual conference
THE Economic Association of Namibia’s third annual conference, will start tomorrow at the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek from 08h00. The association’s executive director, Klaus Schade, said the theme of the meeting “Regional Integration – Opportunities for Namibia”, was chosen because the topic has always been high on the political agenda. The Economic Association of […]