Business confidence still in ‘zigzag’ mode

The IJG Business Climate Monitor (BCM) continued to zigzag in August as it has done over the past few months, dropping to 48.92 after moving up to 49.60 in July.“Once it gets close to the 50-point mark it falls back,” IJG Securities said yesterday. The leading indicator weakened even more after rising for eight consecutive months and ended August almost three points lower than July at 58.85 compared to 61.46. The movements were reflected in the number of indicators that improved and deteriorated during August: 13 indicators went up, while 18 declined.Agriculture, miningAfter two consecutive months of declines the number of livestock marketed increased by almost 1 500 to 48 011 in August. The prices for both beef and lamb dropped slightly to N$42.13 per kg and N$38.38 per kg respectively. Mineral production moved in different directions: While copper production rose to 1 253 metric tonnes from 1 113 and gold output slightly from 494 kg to 509 kg in August, diamond production fell by more than 20 000 carats to 131 229 carats and uranium output by some 300 short tonnes to 388.71 short tonnes. All minerals benefitted from higher prices in Namibia dollars.Construction, tourismAugust held some good news for the construction sector, since the value of building plans approved in Windhoek grew for a third consecutive month to N$135.5 million, while in contrast the value of building plans completed in Windhoek declined by N$10 million to N$98.1 million. In line with the previous two years, the number of international arrivals at the Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) decreased by some 1 200 to 20 885. Compared to 2018, arrivals at HKIA declined by some 21 000 during the first eight months of 2019. “Although this is not the most important indicator for tourism (what matters more is how long the tourists stay in the country and how much money they spend per day) the figures do not bode well for the industry,” IJG said.CreditBoth the number of passenger and of commercial vehicles sold showed contraction in August and total vehicles sold dropped to the lowest (808 vehicles in August) since February 2019. Credit extended to individuals and businesses grew by some N$400 million to N$100.75 billion in August. Credit extended to businesses showed slower growth (4.0%) so far this year compared to the same period last year (4.3%), whereas credit extended to individuals rose by 0.3 percentage points to 3.8%.“Overall, the ups and downs for the IJG BCM as well as the drop in the Leading Indicator suggests that the economy has not yet gained sufficient momentum for a robust turnaround. “Government expenditure remained flat, mineral production went sideways, along with credit extension, posing the question: what can be a driver for growth in the short term?” IJG said.

Business confidence still in ‘zigzag’ mode

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Republikein 2026-04-17

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Business confidence still in ‘zigzag’ mode

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Republikein 2026-04-17

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