Inequality weighs on Namibia's investment appeal

Namibia has climbed three places to 14th in the latest RMB Where to Invest in Africa report, although income inequality, unemployment and the size of its economy continue to weigh on its investment attractiveness.The 2026/27 edition ranks Namibia 14th out of 31 African countries, up from 17th last year and 18th in 2024/25.The country has also moved ahead of Botswana, which fell two places to 15th. Namibia recorded a score of 0.09, compared with 0.05 for Botswana, in the report by South African bank RMB.However, the relatively small difference between the two countries' scores highlights how tightly grouped many of the economies in the middle of the ranking are. A movement in position does not necessarily indicate a substantial change in economic performance.The ranking assesses investment attractiveness using 20 indicators covering areas including economic growth, governance, financial development, employment and human development.Strong institutions, weaker economic fundamentalsNamibia's performance is supported by relatively strong scores for political stability, personal freedom and international connectedness.In the report's weighted contribution analysis, political stability contributed 0.08 to Namibia's overall score, followed by personal freedom at 0.07 and connectedness at 0.06. The corruption measure contributed a further 0.04.Income inequality was the largest negative contributor, at minus 0.10.The country's GDP growth forecast and population size each contributed minus 0.06, while GDP and unemployment each contributed minus 0.05.The findings point to a persistent challenge for Namibia: institutional strengths support its investment proposition, but a relatively small economy, employment constraints and inequality remain obstacles.Resilience does not remove exposureThe report introduces a separate framework examining how well countries can withstand shocks and how exposed they are to external risks.Namibia ranks fourth on the Economic Resilience Index, behind Mauritius, Seychelles and Botswana. Its score of 0.62 is above the average for the 31-country group.The country's strongest resilience pillars are good governance, with a score of 1.27, market efficiency at 0.91, and environmental management at 0.84.Social development, at 0.10, is only marginally above the group average, while macroeconomic stability, at minus 0.02, is broadly in line with it.The separate Economic Vulnerability Index gives Namibia a score of 0.08, indicating slightly greater vulnerability than the group average. On the report's rescaled measure, Namibia scores 36 out of 100, compared with a group average of 32.Strategic import dependence, which considers reliance on imported energy, food and pharmaceutical products, is one of Namibia's main areas of exposure. It records a score of 0.47, while trade openness contributes 0.40 to the vulnerability measure.By contrast, Namibia's export-concentration score of minus 0.47 and climate and geographical exposure score of minus 0.09 are below the group average on the model's standardised measures.RMB places Namibia in its “Rift Walls” category, which describes economies with relatively high resilience but also significant structural vulnerability. Namibia sits close to the boundary with the “Plateaus” category, which represents economies with high resilience and lower vulnerability.A stronger position, but work remainsThe report's results suggest that Namibia has institutional and policy strengths that may help it withstand external shocks. They do not, however, remove the structural constraints highlighted by the overall ranking.The findings also need to be interpreted in context. RMB's ranking measures Namibia's position relative to other African economies across a set of indicators. It is not a direct measure of the country's current economic growth or proof that domestic investment conditions have improved by the same margin as its ranking.Source: RMB, Where to Invest in Africa 2026/27.

Inequality weighs on Namibia's investment appeal

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-29

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Inequality weighs on Namibia's investment appeal

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-29

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