The Impact Tank recently celebrated three years of honouring indigenous heritage.

The company, established in 2020 to cultivate dreams and assist entrepreneurs to grow, drives social impact and inspires cultural innovation in the country. Its Chief Executive Officer, Elzine Mushambi, says the company has grown over the last three years and has a team of 27 representatives across three continents.

The Governor of the Bank of Namibia, Johannes !Gawaxab, says the persistently high cost of living is a cause for concern that puts ordinary Namibians under pressure.

!Gawaxab advised that central banks combat inflation that disproportionately affects vulnerable members of society.

The Bank of Namibia recently hosted the central bank Governors of the Common Monetary Area, South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini.

The meeting was aimed at assessing the state of the economies and the progress made thus far on the implementation of the Common Monetary Area strategy.

The Bank of Namibia's Governor Johannes !Gawaxab says there are no plans for the country to delink the Namibian dollar from the South African Rand.

He made the remark at the Monetary Policy Dialogue held in Windhoek on Thursday.

!Gawaxab says the peg of the Namibian dollar to the South African Rand is still in the best interest of Namibia; hence, there are no plans to delink the two currencies.

The inflation rate, he said, is said to have accelerated over the first three months of 2023 relative to the corresponding period in 2022.

Namibians will have to tighten their belts even more as the central bank lifts the repo rate by another 50 basis points.

The repo rate now stands at 7.5%, up from 7.25%.

The central bank says that, since the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, inflation has remained elevated but generally moderated, with the exception of the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, and the South African Reserve Bank.

The Bank of Namibia (BoN) has announced that it will increase the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.25% following a rise in inflation rates in March.

Food inflation will remain the main driver of inflation in Namibia for the remainder of 2023 due to food shortages in both Namibia and South Africa, as well as a weaker Rand exchange rate.

The annual inflation rate increased by 7.2% last month, compared to 4.5% in March last year, with the highest rates recorded in the two Kavangos, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi regions.

Namibia has recorded an increase in inflation during 2022 compared to 2021, posing great pressure on the cost of living. 

This was revealed in the Bank of Namibia 2022 Annual Report, launched in the capital on Wednesday. 

Overall inflation rose significantly from 3,6% in 2021, to 6,1% in 2022.

The high inflation was mainly driven by transport inflation due to high international oil prices, aggravated by exchange rate depreciation. 

The Bank of Namibia has declared a dividend of N$413. 7 million to the government. 

The dividend was handed over at the launch of the bank's 2022 Annual Report in Windhoek. 

Commending the bank, on behalf of the government, was the Deputy Minister of Finance who noted that the dividends will make a difference in the lives of the less privileged, previously marginalized communities as well as in building the economy.  

The Bank of Namibia on Monday launched and activated the modified N$20 banknote at Opuwo.

The modified N$20 note contains the signature of the current central bank governor, Johannes !Gawaxab. The N$20 and N$200 notes were last reprinted in 2018.

!Gawaxab said this at the launch that was held in Opuwo to promote financial inclusion. 

The Bank of Namibia has increased the repo rate by 25 basis points, from 6.5 to 7 percent.

The increase, the bank says is to maintain inflation expectations, protect the peg arrangement with South Africa and meet international financial obligations.

Bank of Namibia and the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises have re-launched the SME Economic Recovery Loan Scheme.  

This scheme was created with the aim of rescuing the SME sector, which was hit hard by economic headwinds, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic, depressed profits, and financial losses due to COVID-19 and further coupled with the global economic recession and geopolitical tensions.

The buying power within communities has diminished, and this has resulted in a deteriorating state of affairs for many SMEs.