CAPE TOWN: Informal exports went down in 2015 due to a significant decline in exports to Angola, the Namibia Statistics Agency announced yesterday in Windhoek. During the official launch of the 2015 Informal Cross−Border Trade Statistics yesterday, NSA’s statistician general Alex Shimuafeni announced that while there was a decline in informal exports, informal imports increased in 2015 due to significant increases in informal imports from Angola, South Africa and Zambia. The report is a compilation of analysed data collected during the Informal Cross−Border Trade Survey conduced by the agency in September 2015.
“Informal exports to all trading partners increased, except for Angola, which registered a 10% decrease in 2015,” he said. During the period under review, the total exports of formal and informal trade amounted to N$769,8 million, of which N$11,9 million was for informal exports and N$757,8 million was for formal exports.
Although the survey was conducted at six border posts, the major exit border posts for informal exports were Oshikango (N$8,4 million), followed by Wenela (N$1,8million) and Omahenene (N$1,1 million) with a combined share of 95% of the total exports. Oshikango also was the highest entry point for imports in 2015, accounting for a share of 38% of the informal import bill. “Informal exports were estimated at N$12 million, representing a 2% decline from N$12,3 million recorded in 2014, while the informal imports increased drastically with a massive 535% from N$217 000 in 2014 to N$1,4 million,” said Shimuafeni.
Aimed at recording goods entering or leaving the country but not recorded by customs officers, the Informal Cross−Border Trade Survey is the second survey, following the first one in 2014. “The survey is aimed at establishing the size of unrecorded/informal trade flows between Namibia and her neighbouring countries, as well as determining the nature and composition of commodities transacted under informal trade,” he further said.
