Africa-Press – Namibia. THE bleak activity within the construction sector is having a detrimental impact on our unemployment rate due to the employment of numerous unskilled labourers in this field. According to the latest available Labour Force Survey in Namibia from 2018, the construction sector employed 33,707 individuals who were working for 4,031 different employers.
This information comes from Theo Klein, an economist at the stockbroker and wealth management company Simonis Storm Securities. He provided an update on the condition of the construction sector, describing it as gloomy with unsatisfactory approval plans and completion results so far this year.
During the sector analysis, Klein also highlighted that local contractors were granted only 18% of the significant Usakos-Karibib road contract, following numerous protests from the Construction Industry Federation.
Klein further elaborated that the Bank of Namibia has recently revised their GDP growth forecast upwards, from 3.0% to 3.3%, based on anticipated positive data from mining, livestock marketing, wholesale and retail, tourism, and construction. The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has also recently delivered a total of 208 houses to local residents in Otjiwarongo, Swakopmund, and Windhoek. Additionally, there are 413 projects in progress that are set to be handed over in locations such as Outapi, Gobabis, Tsandi, Ondangwa, Omuthiya, Okahao, and Kalkfeld. Looking ahead to upcoming projects, he added that plans are in place for the construction of terminal buildings at Hosea Kutako International Airport, Katima Mulilo, Rundu, and Luderitz airports.
Year-to-date, Simonis Storm has analyzed two municipalities (Windhoek and Swakopmund), which approved 2.5% fewer plans in 2023 (1,538 plans) compared to the same period in 2020 (1,577 plans). Furthermore, the number of completed projects decreased by 47.4% during the same period since 2020. Klein explained that this marks the third consecutive year of declining completed projects during this timeframe.
In a year-on-year comparison, the month of July 2023 saw the approval of a total of 275 plans, a decrease of 19.1% from the 340 plans approved in July 2022. On a more positive note, the number of completed projects in July 2023 increased by 39.4% year-on-year, rising from 137 projects completed in July 2022 to 191 projects completed in July 2023.
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