Observer Money

DENIZ IGAN A newly developed dataset shows how the pandemic’s aftermath ushered in the worst housing affordability crisis in more than a decade. The pandemic and subsequent return of inflation set off the world’s worst housing affordability crisis in more than a decade. It spilled across some of the largest advanced economies and contributed to widespread anger and resentment about economic conditions. Affordability fell in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Portugal, and Switzerland. On average across countries, housing is less affordable today than during the house price bubble that preceded the global financial crisis of 2007–08,…

Niël Terblanché Technicians of Telecom Namibia were lauded for their swift and professional response to a fibre link outage caused by heavy rainfall over the weekend. The incident on Saturday, which affected the vital Okahandja-Karibib fibre link, disrupted connectivity in the area, prompting an immediate response from the company's technical team. In a statement, Telecom said the outage occurred following torrential rains that caused significant damage to the fibre infrastructure. According to the statement, technicians had to brave chest-high floodwaters in the relentless downpour to complete their task. Despite these challenges, the team managed to locate and repair the fault,…

Niël Terblanché The marine industrial complex situated in Walvis Bay welcomed the Q7000, a semi-submersible vessel, which docked on 16 December for maintenance and repair work before its deployment to Brazil's oil fields. The vessel is currently stationed at Berth 8 at the harbour, where it will undergo hull cleaning operations to comply with international maritime environmental standards. The Q7000 arrived from Western Australia and is scheduled for a ten-day stay in Walvis Bay. During this period, specialized underwater vacuum cleaning technology will be employed to remove marine life such as barnacles and mussels from the hull. The extracted organisms…

Martin Endjala In the digital transformative world, innovative ways of doing business have become a prerequisite for many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to navigate the demands of high-tech payment and cash withdrawal systems. Papa G, who owns Papa G’s Chicken in Grysblock, Windhoek, narrated his experience with a Portable Point of Sale (POS) commonly known as a swiping machine, describing it as convenient for his customers. He told the Windhoek Observer this week that some customers do not walk around carrying money, and the convenience of him having a swiping machine has been a game changer. “Trust me if…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The Ministry of Mines and Energy has approved the 2024 ministerial determination for the procurement of new power generation projects, in line with the National Integrated Resource Plan (NIRP) of 2022. In a statement issued on Thursday, the minister of mines and energy, Tom Alweendo said the determination serves as a strategic guide for NamPower and the broader Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) in the development, procurement, and execution of critical energy projects. The minister emphasised that the determination reflects the government’s commitment to enhancing energy security and advancing energy independence through sustainable power generation. The initiative is expected…

De Beers has stripped around 10 sightholders of their rough-diamond allocations for 2025 and is planning to offer fewer goods overall, market insiders told Rapaport News. Those companies will retain their sightholder status, but the miner will not give them a consistent allotment of supply because they did not buy enough in 2024, the sources said. Several of them are in mining countries such as Botswana, where rough purchases and polished production have slumped this year, they added. The total value of allocations next year will be 20% to 30% lower than this year, according to the sources’ estimates, reflecting…

CHAMWE KAIRA Deep Yellow Limited, which is developing Tumas project in the Erongo Region has said that in total 73.8 million pounds of uranium oxide will be produced over a total life of mine of 30 years. Commenting on the milestone Deep Yellow Managing Director/CEO Mr John Borshoff commented: “This major ore reserve upgrade continues to confirm the upside potential of the Tumas project. We now have a reserve with a 30-year Life of Mine expectancy with potential to increase this by a further five to 10 years with further work in the coming years. All of this augers very…

CHAMWE KAIRA Total of quota species landings during the third quarter of this year amounted to 76 347 metric tons, a decline of 2,8% when compared to 78 509 metric tons recorded in the third quarter of 2023. Hake recorded the highest landings of 41 678 metric tons, followed by horse mackerel in second place recording 31 366 metric tons and in third place Monk that recorded 2 333 metric tons, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency’s Agriculture and Fishing Indicators Statistical Bulletin. Export earnings for ‘fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates’ for the third quarter was valued…

CHAMWE KAIRA FNB Namibia has said looking ahead, the group expects GDP growth to continue its positive trend observed over the last 14 quarters. FNB Namibia economist Helena Mboti said the group expects improvements in the agriculture, electricity, and water sectors as weather conditions improve. “We also anticipate a modest uptick in oil and gas activity in the fourth quarter with even greater momentum in 2025, alongside continued strong production in uranium, gold, and metal ores. This could lead to a quicker-than-expected recovery in the mining sector, potentially occurring in the fourth quarter of 2024,” she said. She pointed out…

CHAMWE KAIRA NamWater said it supplied water at an average cost of N$14,56 per cubic meter (m³) in the 2024 financial year compared (2023: N$14.51/m³). NamWater said in its 2023/2024 integrated annual report that the slow cost increase from the previous year is a result of prudent cost management against steep inflationary pressure on the cost base. Effective financial management practices were applied to ensure the viability of the business, the company said. NamWater said operating expenses increased compared to the prior year, resulting in the overall profit before tax reduction of 55% from N$220,6 million in the 2023 financial…