By Dhiladhila Magazine · Issue 12

While the summit chased new investors, tourism was the sector already earning the country foreign money.

While the Economic Growth Summit of July 2019 courted investment in petroleum, logistics and manufacturing, one sector was already doing the job the summit wanted done. Tourism was quietly earning Namibia foreign exchange and employing its people, a working investment case rather than a hoped-for one, and the drive for capital had an obvious candidate close to home.

A product that already sells

Namibia sells something few economies can match: Etosha, the dunes at Sossusvlei, Sandwich Harbour and the rock art of Twyfelfontein, with nearly half the country under some form of conservation and two sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Tourism ranks among the country’s largest earners of foreign exchange, which is exactly the kind of hard-currency income an investment drive is meant to attract.

The point for a summit is that this sector needs scaling more than proving. Lodges, air access, guiding and trained staff are the investable pieces, and they build on demand that already exists rather than a market that has to be created from nothing. Community conservancies, which already share tourism income across rural households, show the model can spread benefit as well as earn currency.

Tourism is the rare Namibian export that foreign visitors come and pay for on site.

For an investor or operator, the lesson of 2019 is that the readiest return may be the sector the summit spent least time selling. The move is to put capital into the accommodation, access and skills that let Namibia carry more visitors well, a bird already in the hand and waiting only to be grown.

Sources: The Namibian; Tourism (Namibia Trade Network); Sector Brief Namibia: Tourism (GIZ)