Namibia, Republic of

Namibia, located on the western coast of Southern Africa, is bordered by Angola to the north, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Namibia gained its independence on 21 March 1990. Namibia's capital is Windhoek. English is the official language of Namibia, and the currency is the Namibian dollar (NAD).

Namibia consists of arid and desert regions in the south and southwest, changing to fertile areas in the far north and northeast. Communal land tenure of 41% and commercial ownership of farms co-exist in the primary sector. Farming mainly centres on livestock and game farming, with subsistence cropping in the north. Grain is grown commercially. Marine fishing takes place along Namibia's 1,500 kilometre long coastline fed by the rich Benguela Current from Antarctica. Fishing quotas are strictly enforced to ensure sustainability.

The manufacturing industry mainly includes meat processing, fish processing, and beverages. The mining industry is the backbone of the economy. Mining mainly centres on diamonds and uranium, with smaller copper, zinc, and lead mines. The second largest sector is tourism, in terms of foreign revenue earned, which has a tremendous potential for growth.

Namibia is richly endowed with wildlife and offers well managed hospitality establishments at affordable prices to mainly European, Asian, and American tourists. Namibia has a modern telecommunications system and is linked via international satellite services to telecommunication services worldwide. Towns and major routes have reliable cellular coverage. The country further boasts 122 post offices nationwide.

The public transportation system is not well developed in some parts of the country. Private operators provide transport by road between major towns and to neighbouring countries. The parastatal TransNamib provides passengers with rail services to the south, west, and north of the country. International and regional operators provide scheduled flights to Namibia. Private charter companies also provide domestic flights. Private charter companies also provide domestic flights.

Namibia has two commercial ports, Walvis Bay (central) as the main port and Luderitz as a secondary port.

Electricity supply is sourced from hydro-electrical, coal fired, and diesel fired power stations in Namibia, as well as power purchase agreements with other countries in the region.

Namibia benefits from the USA African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides for duty and quota-free access to the United States markets for all products (excluding textiles and apparel markets). Goods produced, grown, and manufactured in Namibia may be imported free of customs duties into Zimbabwe, and vice versa pursuant to the Namibia-Zimbabwe Preferential Trade Agreement, which came into force on 17 August 1992.

Namibia has been a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) since 1990, which provides for free movement of goods between the member states consisting of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland pursuant to a renegotiated, democratised agreement signed in October 2002. Duties are levied in terms of a common external tariff on goods originating outside the Union, and no duties or quantitative restrictions apply on intra-SACU trade. Customs revenue is pooled and is shared in terms of a negotiated revenue sharing formula.

Namibia is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with an ultimate objective of forming an integrated economic block. The SADC member countries consist of Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

Namibia ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) and preferential duty rates became applicable in March 2021. The AfCTA has 55 members and was formed to promote inter-Africa trade. The external SACU customs tariff has been updated accordingly.

Namibia is also part of the South African rand (ZAR) Common Monetary Area (Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland), with no foreign exchange restrictions between its members. Foreign exchange regulations apply on other transactions and are strictly regulated by the Bank of Namibia. Namibia has a well-developed commercial banking system with four commercial banks.

Namibia enjoys a preferential and development agreement with the EU, where preferential duty rates on exports to EU member states have been introduced.  The Agreement is with SADC under EPAS (Southern African Economic Partnership Agreement) and was signed in June 2016. 

The SACU-Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement, concluded on 1 April 2010 provides for reduced to free customs tariffs between SACU and Mercosur counters (South America). 

The EFTA-SACU preferential agreement provides for reduced or free duties on imports from the ETTA states (non-EU states, i.e. Norway, Lichtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland as long ago as  1 January 1994. 

The bilateral Free Trade Agreement concluded shortly after Namibia’s Independence (1992) between Namibia and Zimbabwe, provides for reciprocal free duties on goods produced, grown and manufactured in the one treaty state and exported to the other state. 

PwC Namibia is represented in Windhoek and Walvis Bay, offering assurance, tax, and advisory services as the leading financial service provider in Namibia.