By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
Namibians and foreigners have registered/added 24,169 enterprises in the past two financial years (2023/24 -2024/25), intending to operate (produce services and goods) in Namibia, including non-profit organisations.
This is according to the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)’s annual report for 2024/25.
The number of business registrations is an important indicator of the country’s entrepreneurship culture and formalisation efforts.
The registered businesses are Close Corporations (CC), Companies, Foreign Entities, and Section 21. The report indicates that for the financial year 2023/24, local and foreign entities have registered 11,055 entities.
In 2024/25, business registration increased by 18% to 13,114 businesses, dominated by CCs, which accounted for 86% of the total registration, followed by the registration of companies.
In this same period (2024/25), 24 foreign entities were also registered in Namibia.
According to BIPA, applications were processed through multiple channels, including the BIPA Head Office in Windhoek and the regional offices in Walvis Bay and Ongwediva.
According to the statistics, more than 80% of the business registrations occurred in Windhoek, while the coastal office in Walvis Bay registered only 1,053 entities, with the northern office (Ongwediva) only registering 388 for the past 12 months.
BIPA, however, did not provide further explanations on why more businesses were registered in Windhoek as compared to the rest of the country.
According to The Villager’s assessment, in the absence of such explanation, the business registrations show an increased level of entrepreneurship, formalisation, and concentration of businesses in Windhoek.
Another observation in the statistics is that most (78) of the foreign entities that chose Namibia as a jurisdiction of operation have been registered in the coastal area, followed by Windhoek (24).
No foreign business was registered at the northern office.
It has also been observed that only one company was registered at the northern office, 98% (380) were CCs, and 7 non-profit organisations.
Business registration is one of the core requirements to operate in Namibia, as it is used as an essential for aspects such as participating in procurement and to access capital, to mention but a few.
When operations are not registered, they face limitations, as registration documents serve as a requisite for participation in most programs.
erastus@thevillager.com.na
