India is now Namibia’s second largest source market, with trade between the countries coming in at N$4.3 billion, the Ministry of International Relations has revealed.
“Bilateral trade as we have witnessed has increased in trade between India and Namibia, that stood at N$4.3 billion (US$ 252 Million), between 2021-22, first time in a decade,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told a Country Session on Namibia at the 17th Exim-Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership.
Namibia, according to the Ministry, imported goods worth N$3.5 billion from the Asian nation during the period 2021-22.
“Out of this, Indian exports to Namibia worth N$3.5 billion (US$ 206 Million), mainly petroleum products. According to the latest report of the Namibian Statistics Agency, when it comes to Namibian imports, India has become the second largest partner (after South Africa),” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
Namibia’s exports to India amounted to N$786.4 million during the period under review, a 52% increase from previous year’s figures.
“Namibia’s exports to India amounted to US$ 46 Million registering a strong increase of over 52% from the figures for 2020-21. But as you can see we have to do something to improve our trade balance. With the establishment of the India-Namibia Trade Forum, the commercial interaction has increased but there is still room for improvement. The aim is to create collaboration between Namibian and Indian companies in different sectors of our economy,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibia has put in place a conducive environment to attract investment.
“What I can assure you is that the government of Namibia has taken a deliberate decision to facilitate investment in the growth points such as energy, water, agricultural, oil and gas, technology, tourism, health, education, mining (with emphasis on value addition) among others. Subsequently laws and policies friendly to investors are in place and continue to be reviewed to meet the demand,” she said.
“For us as a government, the bottom line is to grow the economy, create the necessary jobs and take our people out of poverty.”
Namibia has been on an aggressive campaign to lure investment into the country, with PSG Namibia forecasting the country to rake in N$7.3 billion (US$502.1 million) in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) this year, up from N$5.7 billion (US$394.1 million) recorded in 2021, driven by increased investor confidence, higher commodity prices, and exploitable opportunities in the country’s renewable energy sector.
According to the latest NSA trade data, the country’s trade balance remained in a deficit of N$4.6 billion from N$4.1 billion recorded in April 2022 and N$2.6 billion observed in May 2021.
