Chamwe Kaira
Namibia’s trade deficit narrowed to N$3.4 billion in September, showing an improvement from the N$5.3 billion shortfall recorded in August.
The chief executive officer and statistician general of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), Alex Shimuafeni, said the latest figures also reflect an improvement compared to the N$5.7 billion deficit recorded in the same month last year.
“The analysis of Namibia’s top trading partners revealed that South Africa maintained its dominance as the country’s largest market for both imports and exports. In terms of goods, the country’s export composition for September was mainly concentrated on commodities of the mining sector such as uranium, precious stones (diamonds), non-monetary gold, as well as nickel ores and concentrates,” said Shimuafeni.
South Africa accounted for 17.8% of all goods exported, followed by Botswana with 14%. Zambia, China and the United Arab Emirates were also among Namibia’s top export destinations.
On imports, South Africa remained Namibia’s biggest source, accounting for 33.3% of all imports, followed by China with 10.8%. Oman, Morocco, and Bahrain rounded out the top five import markets.
Fish was the only non-mineral product among the top five exports. Re-exports dropped by 19.4% compared to August but grew by 17% year-on-year. The re-export basket mainly consisted of diamonds, nickel ores, base metal concentrates, petroleum oils, and fertilisers.
Imports were dominated by petroleum oils, fertilisers, commercial motor vehicles, nickel ores, and passenger vehicles.
Namibia recorded a trade surplus of N$58 million in food items, making it a net exporter in this category. However, it remained a net importer of beverages, with a deficit of N$210 million.
Charcoal was the commodity of the month. Namibia exported charcoal worth N$100 million, mainly to the Netherlands, South Africa, and Poland, while importing charcoal worth N$1 million from Malaysia.
On the African continent, Namibia’s exports went mostly to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe.
Most imports came from the same countries, except Morocco and Angola, which replaced Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Caption
The country’s trade deficit improved in September.
- Photo: Contributed
