A total of 3,192 new businesses were registered in Namibia during the first four months of 2025, it has been revealed.
According to the Bank of Namibia, this represents a 27% increase compared to the same period in 2024, signalling stronger business confidence and improved prospects for economic activity.
Registrations of close corporations rose by 28.3%, while private (Pty) Ltd companies grew by 17.3%.
However, on a quarterly basis, new business registrations declined by 3.2%.
“The seasonally adjusted series showed a higher decline of 6.5% over the same period,” the central bank said.
Employment in the wholesale and retail trade sector increased by 9% during the quarter, driven mainly by growth in the wholesale and supermarket subsectors.
“Clothing, furniture and vehicle subsectors decreased,” the central bank said, but added that overall employment in the sector still rose by 8% on a quarterly basis.
In the manufacturing sector, employment grew marginally by 1.1%.
The Bank attributed the weak performance to declines in the blister copper, diamond processing, dairy and salt subsectors.
“This was due to various factors, as stated in relevant sectors of this document,” it said.
Quarterly growth in manufacturing employment stood at 1.2%.
The nominal wage bill in the wholesale and retail sector increased by 4.3% year-on-year, while average wages rose by 3.4%.
“The increase was attributed largely to improved output in major subsectors, particularly wholesale, vehicle sales and supermarkets,” the report said.
Despite this, the sector’s nominal wage bill fell by 8% compared to the previous quarter, while average wages rose slightly by 1.4%.
In manufacturing, the nominal wage bill rose by 1.3% and average wages by 0.2% year-on-year. These increases were driven by growth in the non-metallic minerals and food and beverage subsectors. However, average wages declined on a quarterly basis.
Total unit labour costs in manufacturing dropped by 1% year-on-year.
“The decline was reflected in subsectors such as other food products, other manufacturing, and printing and textile subsectors,” BoN said.
Quarter-on-quarter, unit labour costs rose by 3%.
