Country Information - Namibia

ECONOMIC BACKGROUND The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 20% of GDP. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa and the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia also produces large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. About half of the population depends on agriculture (largely subsistence agriculture) for its livelihood. Namibia must import some of its food. Although per capita GDP is five times the per capita GDP of Africa's poorest countries, the majority of Namibia's people live in pronounced poverty because of large-scale unemployment, the great inequality of income distribution, and the large amount of wealth going to foreigners. The Namibian economy has close links to South Africa. Agreement has been reached on the privatisation of several more enterprises in coming years, which should stimulate long-run foreign investment. (Source: World Factbook, 2002) Click here for Country Map [23kB]

BI-LATERAL TRADE OVERVIEW Trade between Namibia and the United States was relatively balanced in 2002, following the large trade surplus in favour of the US in 2001. In 2001, this deficit amounted to $ 218 million, a 6-fold increase from 2000. In 2002, this had been reduced to virtually zero, largely as a result of lower US imports into Namibia. The bulk of Namibia's 2002 exports to the U.S. consisted of (using the broad classification used in the bilateral trade profiles below) ‘energy-related products’, followed by 'minerals and metals', ‘textiles and apparel’ and 'agricultural products' (the latter due to exports mainly from the fisheries sector). Of significance is the fact that Namibia’s exports of textiles and apparel have increased significantly, some of which qualified under AGOA. Namibia's imports from the U.S. are dominated by ‘electronic products’ and ‘chemicals and related products’ (see link to Country Trade Profile below). Namibia qualified for the 'Wearing Apparel' provisions of AGOA on December 3, 2001, although the country's fledgling textile and garment manufacturing industry is yet to fully exploit the opportunity hereunder. Namibia was recently, under "AGOA II", re-classified as a 'Lesser Developed Country' in terms of the AGOA, thereby extending AGOA’s textile sourcing provisions to this country (expires on September 30, 2004). This should boost the establishment of local garment production capacity, as well as providing an incentive for local textile manufacturers to ready themselves for the post 2004 period. A very large greenfields investment in a vertically integrated textile-garment factory was recently undertaken in the country's capital, Windhoek, largely as a result of AGOA. Detailed bilateral trade data for this country, disaggregated by industry sector, can be accessed by following the link below. Aggregate data featuring all AGOA-eligible countries is updated on this website as soon as new data is published, including ranked AGOA / non-AGOA trade, aggregate trade by industry sector as well as the latest apparel trade data. Click here for Detailed Trade Profile