The Economic Association of Namibia (EAN) says the 2025/26 Mid-Year Budget Review reflects government’s continued commitment to funding priority sectors within the existing budget envelope.
The association said the reallocation of funds from lower-performing areas to ministries central to implementing national development goals — particularly Education, Health, and emerging sectors such as Oil & Gas — is appropriate and consistent with the realignment required under NDP6 and the Swapo Manifesto Implementation Plan (SMIP).
The EAN noted that the additional N$814 million allocated to education, mainly for tertiary fees and teacher recruitment, and the N$185 million allocated to health for the recruitment of more than 1,500 health personnel, demonstrate targeted investment in human capital and essential social infrastructure.
“These reallocations ensure that resources follow national priorities, especially in areas that deliver high developmental returns,” the EAN said.
However, the association expressed concern over the reduction of the development budget from N$9.6 billion to N$8.8 billion, which it said was driven by low execution rates in capital spending.
The EAN said that while the adjustment helps balance short-term fiscal pressures, it also highlights ongoing challenges in translating budgeted development allocations into actual project delivery.
“This issue is important because capital expenditure is the main driver of infrastructure-led growth, job creation, and economic diversification — all central to the ambitions of SMIP and NDP6,” the association said.
“If development budgets remain under-executed year after year, national plans risk drifting behind schedule, not because of lack of funding, but because of bottlenecks in implementation and institutional capacity.”
The EAN also commended government’s fiscal prudence in keeping the global appropriation unchanged at N$89.4 billion, particularly in a context where public debt has risen to N$176.3 billion and interest servicing costs have grown to N$14.3 billion.
The association said that over the medium term, improving execution capacity for development projects — particularly in infrastructure, logistics, land servicing, water, electricity, agro-processing, and youth enterprise systems — will be essential to unlocking employment creation and achieving the goals outlined under Namibia’s development policy frameworks.
The EAN called for continued collaboration between government, the private sector, and development partners to strengthen delivery systems for national projects.
“We remain available to support this process through evidence-based policy advice, research and dialogue platforms that help bridge implementation gaps,” the association said.
