The Drawbacks of a Narrow Tax Base
Most people recognise that taxes are needed to pay for public services. However, few people realise that the sources of taxation, especially personal income tax, emanates from a small minority. The fact that many countries, including Namibia and South Africa, have such a narrow tax base is as a direct result of the great income […]
Rightsizing the public sector – Klaus Schade
Personnel expenditure has increased from 39.7 percent of the total budget in the 2016/17 financial year to 44.9 percent in the current financial year. If we had frozen salaries at last year’s level, the wage bill would have dropped to 39.1 percent of the total budget and some NAD3.6 billion could have been used to […]
Bush encroachment – Turning a problem into an industry – by Dagmar Honsbein and Colin Lindeque
Bush encroachment in Namibia is defined as the densification and rapid spread of native bush and shrub species, resulting in an imbalance of biodiversity. In addition to native species, invasion of exotic tree or shrub species such as Prosopis also pose a threat. This bush encroachment phenomenon is said to be caused by a number […]
Junk Status Looms Again
Klaus Schade gave his view on the possibility of Namibia facing a ratings downgrade, fresh off the back of events in South Africa, in the Namibian Sun of Wednesday, 05 April 2017.
Joblessness bites deep
Klaus Schade gave his contribution on the current cascading unemployment situation in the country in The Namibian Sun Newspaper of Friday 7th April 2017.
Trophy Hunting in Namiba – By Catherine Birch
Trophy hunting is always a polarising topic but opposition has been mounting over recent years. Cecil the Lion, the media (in particular the use of social media by animal rights activists), and celebrities have stirred public opinion, much of it negative. This has arguably contributed to the introduction of airline bans on transporting trophies, the […]
Railway sector needs a Vision – Klaus Schade
Namibia aims at becoming the logistics hub for southern Africa. This ambition was first articulated in the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP4), followed up in the Harambee Prosperity Plan and the soon to be released NDP5. Consequently, government invested heavily in transport infrastructure: the expansion of the Walvis Bay harbour is nearing completion increasing the […]
The Namibian Balance of Payments, Foreign Exchange Reserves and the currency peg – By Rowland Brown
As a small open economy, Namibia’s balance of payments is arguably the single most important indicator of the health of the local economy. This is particularly true of Namibia, where a currency peg and twin deficits (current account and fiscal) present a form of “impossible trinity” if continued in perpetuity. In this vein, should a […]
Transport and logistics role in achieving sustainable development – By Kenneth Odero and Klaus Schade
Transport and logistics is essential for trade, industrialization, social-economic development and regional integration. Over the past 20 years the Government of Namibia has invested in transport infrastructure development (roads, rail, maritime and ports, and aviation) in order to both meet the national demand, as well as position Namibia as the gateway to the Southern Africa […]
The construction sector’s potential contribution to achieving some of the SDGs – By Frederick P.O Muketi and Klaus Schade
The construction sector has been one of the drivers of economic growth over the past few years. The sector grew by 35% annually on average between 2013 and 2015, resulting in 19% more jobs in the sector in 2014 compared to 2013. And construction works and buildings accounted for 58.5% of all Gross Fixed Capital […]