AFRICA: NAMIBIA Focus
population depends on subsistence agriculture or herding.
Namibia is divided into 13 regions and subdivided into 107 constituencies whilst the landscape consists of five geographical areas – the Central Plateau, Namib Desert, Great Escarpment, Bushveld and Kalahari Desert.
Namibia’s economy is tied closely to South Africa’s due to their shared history. Mining is the biggest contributor accounting for 25 per cent of the country’s income. Namibia is part of the Common Monetary Area comprising Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa and both the South African rand and Namibian dollar are legal tender in Namibia although the dollar is not accepted tender in South Africa.
The country is a superb transport and communications base and as such is a leading advocate of regional economic integration. State owned enterprises operate in key areas of the economy and the government has stakes (often 100 per cent) in companies in sectors such as telecommunications, energy, water, postal services, mining and tourism. The country has a high unemployment rate of around 50 per cent.
Tourism is a rapidly growing sector of the Namibian economy and it is the third largest source of foreign exchange after mining and the fisheries. Although the three quarters of the total visitors originate from other African regions, other international travellers are now attracted by the country’s unique mix of political stability, cultural diversity and geographical beauty.
Angola represents the largest visitor market to Namibia followed by South Africa and Zambia. Some 21 per cent of tourists however come from Europe with Germany leading the way followed by the UK, France and Italy. The number of tourists in 2009 increased by over five per cent from the previous year to 980,173 and tourism contributes around 14 per cent to Namibia’s GDP. The country generally attracts eco-tourists who wish to escape to different climates and natural geographical landscapes. Sport hunting is popular and extreme sports have also become popular.
Since independence Namibia has successfully completed the transition from white minority apartheid rule to parliamentary democracy. The Swapo Party has won every election since independence and the transition from the 15 year rule of President Nujoma to his successor Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005 went smoothly.
Today, Namibia has a population of 2.1 million and is the world’s 34th largest country, but is the second least densely populated country in the world (after Mongolia) and around half the population live below the poverty line. Agriculture, herding, tourism and the mining industry form the backbone of Namibia’s economy and around 25 to 40 per cent of the
G3 I MAY 2011 I PAGE 35 Namibia has a
population of 2.1 million and is the
world’s 34th largest country, but is the
second least densely populated country in the world.
THE GAMING MARKET After independence Namibia introduced the Casinos and Gambling Houses Act in 1994 which today is operated under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. This law saw a controlled casino market with a ban on new casino licences at the time when the cabinet established a commission of inquiry to investigate the
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