NAMIBIA CONSTRUCTION TO ENTER SEVENTH YEAR OF CONTRACTION

Experts say the Namibia’s construction sector is projected to remain in contraction during 2022 before recovering to growth in 2023.

According to the Bank of Namibia (BoN) February economic outlook, it stated that the projected contraction in 2022, is a moderation from a deeper contraction of 19.2% in 2021, and marks the seventh year of consecutive contractions for the sector. That the sector is expected to contract by 2% in 2022 before expanding by 2.5% in 2023. 

BoN reports reads: “The estimated contraction in construction for 2021 was increased to 19.2% from an earlier estimate of 11.5% contraction. The adjustment to construction growth was informed by much lower construction activity from both government and private sector.”

Furthermore, the Namibian economy is estimated to have recovered moderately during 2021 and is projected to improve further during 2022 and 2023, supported by better growth for the mining industry and most tertiary industries.

The central bank also noted that domestic economic growth is estimated at 0.9% for 2021 and is expected to improve to 3.4% in 2022 and to 3.7% in 2023. The 2021 growth estimate was revised down from 1.5% published in the December 2021 economic outlook update, largely reflecting lower performance for sectors like non-metallic mineral products, construction, wholesale and retail trade as well as financial services.