Economic summit: Namibia eyes $1 billion investments

Namibia, which is hosting a two-day economic summit July 31 to August 1, expects to attract at least $1 billion worth of investments over the next two years.

The summit, themed “Economic Revival for Inclusive Growth—Strengthening the Namibian House”, is expected to play a role in reviving the Namibian economy, creating jobs and attracting investments.

 

The summit will also seek to promote Namibia as an investment and tourist destination and identify and remove bottlenecks that are slowing the growth of local economy, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.

 

The summit, which is being organized by the high-level panel on the Namibian economy, targets local, regional and international investors, the private sector, development partners, financial institutions, industry leaders, the youth and organized labor. About 600 delegates from across the country, Africa and the world will be invited to attend the event.

 

The summit features panel discussions on topical issues, including fight against poverty, inequality and unemployment.

Namibia’s economy will mildly contract again in 2019 due to poor rains and reduced diamond production but economic growth will return in 2020, the International Monetary Fund said this month.

Namibia’s central bank had said in April economic growth would be about 0.3% in 2019 after contractions in 2018 and 2017.