Namibia’s real estate and wholesale and retail sectors have dominated merger activity over the past 16 years, accounting for nearly 40% of industry-classified transactions reviewed by the Namibia Competition Commission (NaCC) since 2010.
The Commission determined 203 real estate merger cases between 2010 and July 2026, the highest of any sector, while wholesale and retail trade recorded 195 transactions.
NaCC Director for Mergers and Acquisitions Johannes Ashipala said merger activity over the period has been heavily concentrated in a handful of sectors.
“There is a significant concentration in real estate, followed by wholesale and retail. That slide basically indicates that about 20% of our merger cases are in real estate, and it is followed by wholesale and retail, manufacturing, mining and tourism,” Ashipala said at a stakeholder engagement in Windhoek.
Manufacturing recorded 115 merger cases over the period, followed by mining with 89 and accommodation and food services with 67.
Together, the five sectors accounted for 669 merger cases, representing about 66% of all industry-classified transactions reviewed by the Commission over the past 16 years.
“If you look at just these five sectors, about two-thirds of the cases that we look at are made up by these five sectors,” Ashipala said.
By comparison, merger activity remained limited in several other parts of the economy, with education, arts and recreation, and water and waste-related activities each recording fewer than 10 cases.
Overall, NaCC made 1,008 merger determinations between 2010 and July 2026. Annual determinations increased from 18 cases in 2010 to a peak of 93 in 2015 before moderating in subsequent years.
While real estate recorded the highest number of transactions, wholesale and retail generated the greatest number of competition concerns requiring conditions to be imposed on approved mergers.
The Commission approved 101 mergers subject to conditions over the period, of which 28 were in wholesale and retail.
Accommodation and food services accounted for 13 conditional approvals, followed by agriculture with 11, mining with 10 and manufacturing with eight. Together, the five sectors accounted for 70, or about 69%, of all conditional merger approvals.
“Competition issues are particularly prominent in wholesale and retail. About 28% of the merger conditions that we have imposed are from the wholesale and retail sector, followed by tourism, agriculture, services and mining. Approximately 70% of the merger conditions that we have imposed come from these sectors,” Ashipala said.
NaCC has also recorded increasing complexity in merger investigations over the years, with some major transactions taking close to the statutory maximum of 150 days to conclude.
The Commission is seeking to shorten turnaround times, with delays in receiving information from merging parties and responses from stakeholders identified as factors contributing to longer investigations.
