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Namibia's Economic Climate
Little more than a decade ago Namibia gained its independence, establishing a multiparty democracy. Since then, Namibia has become one of the most vibrant and successful sovereign staes in Africa. It offers investors a stable political environment, well-managed industrial relations, a superb infrastructure of roads, railways and telecommunications, a diversity of natural resources and a large pool of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour.
What's more, the government has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to a free market economy. Concerted efforts have been made to ensure the efficient management of the country's economical fundamentals. Part of the reason for Namibia's positive ratings lies in the highly competitive legislative and tax incentives the government has put in place.
Experts of the World Economic Forum recently rated Namibia as Africa's fourth most competitive nation - a position it has held since 1998 - and the best in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of country risk.
Furthermore, Namibia's strategic location makes it a natural gateway for international trade, particularly in view of its deep-water harbour at Walvis Bay to which most southern and central African countries have access. The redently completed Trans-Caprivi and Trans-Kalahari Highways link the port of Walvis Bay to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It is by far the nearest SADC port for destinations to and from Europe and the Americas. Tsumeb is strategically located en-route to Namibia's northern neighbours.
As a memeber of SADC, Namibia forms part of Africa's largest trade and cooperation pact comprising of 12 member states. By virtue of its membership, Namibia has preferential access via transport and trade links to the 130 million inhabitants of the sub-region. An even larger market can be accessed through Namibia's membership to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), consisting of about 350 million consumers with a combined GDP of nearly US$160 billion.
Economic Activity in TsumebWhere in the past a lot of focus was placed on the mine and its activities to sustain the economic vitality of the town, the mind-set has changed radically since the demise of the former Tsumeb Corporation Ltd. (TCL) in 1998. Concerted efforts are made by the Town Council and the local Chamber of Commerce to encourage growth in all business sectors to ensure the sustainable development of the town.
Apart from a thriving industrial sector as a result of the mining activities, Tsumeb is an important business and trading hub in the north of the country owing to its strategic location on the main trading route with Namibia's northern neighbours. Informal trading has also experienced a rapid growth, as it became a valuable source of income for many jobless people after the closure of the mine. Today it has grown into a structured and important part of the town's economic activities.
Namibia's largest and most renowned tourist attraction, the Etosha National Park, is literally on Tsumeb's doorstep, which makes the town a tourist thoroughfare. The town has realized the potential of such a valuable resource and plans have been devised to develop additional tourist attractions in town to lure more tourist to the town itself.
One of the main advantages of Tsumeb's location is in fact that it lies in a high rainfall and water-rich area in Namibia. This makes Tsumeb and its surrounding areas a very important agricultural centre, suited for livestock and intense crop farming. This is particularly significant considering that agriculture remains the key sector in Namibia's economy, accounting for 25% employment of the labour force.
The Town Council of Tsumeb is pro-active in encouraging development of the local industries and establishing trade relationships with other partners. Twinning relationships exist with cities in Norway (Elverum), the United Kingdom (Chesterfield), Canada (Tecumseh), and even Russia (Voronesh), allowing access to a wealth of expertise. Foreign investors who have established businesses in Tsumeb include Angolans, Chinese, Germans, Greek, Norwegians,and South africans, to mention just a few.