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 […]
We might have hit the trough, but now the lookout for green shoots – Suta Kavari
Last year September I penned an opinion piece cautioning that the Namibian economy was on the brink of slipping into a recession. The article followed similar such warnings by many analysts at the time. Last week the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) confirmed those fears, we are in recession. According to the NSA reading, the economy […]
Would a National Business Council do the trick? Klaus Schade
The Fifth National Development Plan was launched two weeks ago on the 31st of May 2017. Contrary to general perceptions that often exist, this is not a Government Development Plan, but a National Development Plan designed through extensive consultations across the country and the various sectors of society. Not only because of the estimated investment […]
Too Poor to Own Land
North Central Namibia is interesting, and exciting for so many reasons. For me the best is driving through the informal clusters of small colourful cuca shops, flats, brick-makers, restaurants, tailors and more. While not perfect, tenure arrangements allow people to create these clusters of enterprise. Traders have enough security and confidence to build their businesses. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Supply and Demand Forces versus Price Controls – Klaus Schade
Remember, about ten years ago? Uranium prices peaked at USD135.00 per pound after climbing continuously over more than three years from about USD20.00 per pound. However, the financial and economic crisis hit the commodity sector and uranium prices dropped to about USD40.00 per pound. They recovered again before the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors […]
Roads vs Streets: the Economic and Social Cost – Martin Mendelsohn
A few years ago, I read that Namibia has the highest number of deaths per capita from vehicle accidents in the world. I decided that there probably aren’t statistics for the worse off places, but it’s something that’s been bothering me ever since… I’ve slowly come to realise why Namibia may have such a high […]
Rural-Urban Migration – A Blessing in Disguise? Klaus Schade
Namibia’s urban population increased from 28 percent of the total population in 1991 to 47 percent in 2015 and is expected to rise further to 60 percent in 2030. This trend is not unique for Namibia, but can be observed in developing countries across the world. The visible signs of this trend are among others […]