Hoped-for upturn hasn't happened yet

Windhoek – Most businesses had expected an improvement in the economy at the beginning of the year, but in fact conditions had continued to decline, said commission agent Neurath Botha, who represents Bolton Footwear and Kaytex Belts.
      "One of the most important economic drivers here is tourism," he said, "and that's basically still closed. Our borders are open to some of our key tourist countries, like Germany, but they still regard us as a red zone, so any German tourist visiting Namibia faces 3 weeks' quarantine, at his own expense, when he goes home. That's unaffordable."
      One of the victims of the tourist falloff has been the government-owned airline, Air Namibia, which has gone into liquidation.
      He said retail closures had escalated. Most of the closures have been branches of South African-owned chains, but some formerly important local retailers have closed or scaled down.
      "It's quite frightening walking through the malls at the moment," he said.
      How to cope? "It's all about price at the moment," he said. "People are buying down."