Chart of the Week

In the 2023 Afrobarometer survey, Namibians were asked to identify the three most important problems facing the country that the government should address.

36.4% of responses focused on economic issues. Unemployment was deemed the most significant issue overall, with 23.0% of respondents selecting it as one of the three most important issues in Namibia.

Other significant issues included poverty, electricity, housing, sickness, infrastructure and agricultural marketing.

Interestingly, only 6 respondents noted corruption as one of the three most important issues (0.2% of the total) - despite 76.0% of adult Namibians believing that corruption had increased from the previous year, according to the Afrobarometer survey.

This highlights that while most Namibians believe corruption has worsened significantly, other issues are deemed more important, says Cirrus Capital economist Tannan Groenewald.

Regarding the voting age distribution in Namibia, the split between the "not born free" and "born free" generations now stands at 51/49 in favour of the former. However, more than half of the "born free" generation (55%) reported not feeling close to any party in the survey.

The younger population also exhibits less belief in the importance of their vote, with 37% of the "born free" generation abstaining from voting in the 2019 elections, compared to 20% of the "not born free" generation.