By: David Shoombe
Economic observers and entrepreneurs have frowned upon the impact of the Bank of Namibia’s strategic objectives, which the central bank shared were successfully reached for the year 2025.
Presenting the 2025 annual report, Bank of Namibia (BoN) governor, Ebson Uanguta, commended the central bank’s performance in reaching its strategic objectives and maintaining Namibia’s financial stability and effective monetary policy.
Uanguta indicated that BoN attained 97.6% of its goals for the year 2025, disbursing N$200 million in dividends to the government as a result of said success.
David Nashilongo, an entrepreneur, states that “There is no logical or statistical evidence that can be accepted by an ordinary person that shows the central bank has reached almost 100% of its strategic objectives.”
Nashilongo indicated that as an entrepreneur, his expectations are “financial stability, accessibility, and a conducive environment to thrive in business. Did I get that? No,” he expressed.
Nashilongo shared more on his disappointment, noting that “hosting conferences cannot be a celebrated strategic achievement in a country that is desperate for economic development and financial inclusion”.
Economist Peter Frans also questioned the model used to determine the near-perfect performance of the central bank in 2025.
“If Namibia has the lowest economic growth in Africa, how can it be justified?” he queried.
Economist Epafras Jonas indicated that “The relationship between the central bank’s performance and the country’s economic growth is linked to a certain extent through the monetary policy and advisory to the state.”
He explained that the Bank’s successful execution of its plan is essential because without financial stability, little else works. “But genuine, sustained improvement in the country’s economic performance requires tackling the structural weaknesses the governor himself highlighted,” said Jonas.
In short, Jonas used the analogy that the bank can build the runway, but the economy needs diversification and structural reform to truly take off.
Postgraduate researcher in development studies, Ndapanda Shilongo, explained that BoN regulates and supervises commercial banks. Through that, a stable banking system ensures smooth credit flow for businesses and households.
“However, the fact that BoN does not control the entire dynamics of the economy cannot entirely be relied upon for the poor economic performance of Namibia,” Shilongo outlined.
She said “there are a lot of factors involved in looking at this issue. It can also mean that BoN did its job very well according to its mandate and exposed the other economic players’ shortcomings, which include the government, investors, and business people.”
Namibia’s domestic economy in 2025 showed that it had grown slowly, below the projected 3%. As a contributing factor to this slow growth, the report highlighted that continued reliance on the mining sector may increase the country’s vulnerability to external shocks.
Adding on to the domestic economic growth, BoN noted that it is “projected to recover and grow to a range of 2.6 to 3.0 percent between 2026 and 2027.”
The Bank’s N$200 million payment to the government indicates a N$520 million decline from N$720 million for the 2024 financial year.
The current projection of the Namibian economy shows that the country is among the least economically developed countries in Africa.
