In the local market this week, the NSX Local index was up 0.30% at 502.5, and the NSX Overall Index was up 3.89% at 1612.2. As at 8 November 2022, Namibia Breweries was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 9.5 billion, followed by FirstRand Namibia with N$ 8.3 billion, Capricorn Group with N$ 6.7 billion and Mobile Telecommunications with N$ 5.3 billion. Letshego Holdings Namibia lead the market this week, closing at N$ 3 per share after growth of 6.4%, with FirstRand Namibia second, closing at N$ 31 after growth of 1.0%. In terms of volume Namibia Breweries lead the market with N$ 29.2 million worth of shares traded, with Capricorn Group in second place with N$ 0.4 million worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 2.59% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 17.71 per USD, and gained 2.16% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 20.43 per GBP. It closed at N$ 17.84 against the Euro, a gain of 0.64%.
The Namibia Statistics Agency released the Trade Statistics Bulletin for September 2022, and revealed that the trade deficit during the month decreased by 41.2%, with a N$ 2.4 billion trade deficit compared to N$ 4.1 billion in August 2022. This is lower than the N$ 2.7 billion deficit recorded in September 2021. Exports increased by 2.3% to N$ 8.0 billion, with imports decreasing by 12.5% to N$ 10.4 billion. The increase in exports was mainly due to exports of precious stones (diamonds) increasing by N$156 million, printed matter increasing by N$141 million, uranium increasing by N$127 million, copper ores and concentrates increasing by N$73 million, soap, cleansing and polishing preparations increasing by N$59 million. The decrease in imports was mainly due to ores and concentrates of precious metals decreasing by N$389 million, sugar, molasses and honey decreasing by N$261 million, inorganic chemical elements decreasing by N$242 million, copper ores and concentrates decreasing by N$229 million and miscellaneous chemical elements decreasing by N$165 million. Botswana was Namibia’s largest export market (22.4%), with South Africa as Namibia’s largest import market (40.9%). Namibia’s airports accounted for the majority of exports (40.3%), with imports done mainly via road (52.8%).
