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8. Namibia: When politics overcomes limited resources
8.1. Country profile
The Republic of Namibia is located in the southern part of Africa, bordering Angola and Zambia to the north, South Africa to the south and east, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the
east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The country became independent in 1990 and is one of the largest nations of the southern part of the African continent, with a total territory
of 825,418 square kilometres.
Despite possessing such an extensive territory Namibia’s population is small, with an estimated 2.2 million inhabitants in 2010, similar to that of neighbouring countries such as
Botswana and Lesotho. Population density is 2.5 persons per square kilometre, one of the lowest in the world.
Since Independence Namibias population has increased by a factor of 1.6, growing at an annual average of 2.3 per cent. Population growth has, however, been declining. It
stabilized at roughly 1.95 per cent per year during the last 5 years figure 55, but the downward trend is expected to continue in the long term and the annual rate to drop to a
mere 0.1 per cent by 2025. The overall fertility rate is estimated to have declined from 4.6 births per woman in 1995 to 1.8 births in 2025.
Figure 55. Namibia: Population growth rate, 1960-2010
Source: World Bank, 2010.
Namibia has a young population whose median age is around 20 years. No accelerated aging process is envisaged in the short or medium term. The mean age is expected to
increase to 21.7 years in 2025 and to 29.9 years by 2050 UNFPA, 2009. In terms of participation of the different age groups figure 56, this implies that children below 15
years old will make up 24.6 per cent of the total population in 2030 35.1 per cent in 2010 while people over 65 years of age will account for 6.1 per cent currently 4 per cent.
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Figure 56. Namibia: Population pyramids for 2010 and 2030
Source: US Census Bureau, 2010.
From an economic standpoint, Namibia is a low-middle-income country with a GDP per capita in 2009 of US4,178 US6,457 in PPP terms. Annual economic growth before
independence was low, averaging 1.1 per cent between 1981 and 1989. The decade that followed Independence improved the countrys overall economic circumstances and its
average annual growth rate tripled from the previous decade 3.8 per cent per year. However, it was during the 2000s that Namibia enjoyed a substantial boost to its GDP,
with rates moving from 2.5 per cent to 12.3 per cent for an average of 5.2 per cent per year. As a result, GDP per capita, measured in nominal terms, showed a remarkable increase
during this period, from US 1,770 in 2002 to US 4,178 in 2008 Figure 57.
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