Chamwe Kaira
Total direct employment in the mining industry increased by 6.9% in 2022 and the sector collectively employed 16,147 people.
The increase was a result of the new employment positions created on Debmarine Namibia’s new mining vessel and increased exploration activities.
The direct employment consisted of 8,391 permanent employees, 742 temporary employees and 7,014 contractors, the Chamber of Mines of Namibia announced this week.
The mining sector recorded another year of strong growth in 2022 of 21.6%, compared to 11% in 2021.
The industry also significantly increased its relative share and importance to the Namibian economy by growing its share of GDP from 9.2% in 2022 to 12.2%.
The improved performance by mining was predominantly driven by the massive jump in diamond production, which grew by 44.2% in 2022.
This increase was mainly a result of the additional output from Debmarine Namibia’s new marine diamond vessel, the Benguela Gem.
Uranium production was negatively impacted by continued water supply disruptions, and overall gold output fell owing to development delays of the underground mining operations at B2Gold’s Otjikoto gold mine.
Total revenue to government paid by Chamber members increased by 29.6% in 2022 as a result of higher sales revenues and the high profits realized by individual operations, particularly from diamond mining, in comparison to 2022.
Corporate taxes paid by the industry increased from N$ 1.553 billion in 2021 to N$1.9 billion in 2022. Chamber members collectively paid N$2.154 billion in royalties and N$249.4 million in export levies, which increased by 33.7% and 7.6% from 2021 to 2022 respectively.
The value of exports of each mineral classification posted significant increases in 2022 in nominal terms. Again, the higher Namibian dollar prices were supported by a weaker exchange which boosted export and foreign exchange earnings.
The sector’s financial performance in terms of profitability declined by 142% in nominal terms. It appears that the cost pressures from mounting local and imported inflation far outweighed revenue gains from a weaker exchange rate.
