The Bank of Namibia says the uranium mining sector is expected to grow by 3.6% in 2024, down from a robust growth of 24.5% in 2023.
According to the Bank of Namibia’s March 2024 Economic Outlook Update, published on April 9, the sector is expected to experience water supply interruptions despite increased spot prices.
The interruption will result in uranium mines adjusting their production downwards, coupled with anticipated stripping activities at some mines.
Growth for other mining and quarrying (which include oil exploration) is expected to moderate but remain robust during 2024.
The other mining and quarrying subsector is expected to grow by 8.7% and 4.4% in 2024 and 2025, a significant reduction from growth of 37.2% in 2023.
The anticipated slowdown in 2024 is due to base effects following intensive oil exploration and drilling in the previous years. These projections reflect an upward revision of 3.7 percentage points in 2024 and 0.3 percentage points in 2025.
The diamond mining sector is expected to slow to 2.1% growth in 2024 before rebounding to 5.7% in 2025.
The anticipated significant slowdown in diamond mining is attributed to low production due to unfavourable international prices and subdued global demand for rough diamonds.
The latest projection represents a downward revision of 7.6% points for 2024 growth and an upward revision of 7.4 percentage points for 2025 growth.
The metal ores sector is expected to contract by 3.5% and 0.6% in 2024 and 2025, respectively, from a robust growth of 33.7 recorded in 2023. The expected contraction in 2024 and 2025 is mainly due to the depletion of ores from the gold sub-sector. The latest projections reflect a downward revision of 11.1 percentage points in 2024 and 4.4 percentage points in 2025.
