Heads up for a better economy

Namibia’s graduate professionals remain extremely confident about their reasons for staying in the country, partly reflected by their optimism in the local economy. However, this optimism doesn’t extend beyond the borders, with many concerned about the state of the global economy.
This is according to the results of the latest PPS Namibia Graduate Professional Confidence Index (PCI), which tracks the confidence levels of approximately 100 of Namibia’s graduate professionals. The index showed a confidence level of 87% on the issue of whether respondents expect to remain in the country for the foreseeable future.
“This result is incredibly positive when compared to the South African version of the PCI which recorded a confidence level of 75% for the same quarter and declined by eight percentage points year-on-year,” says Adri Vermeulen, Chief Executive of PPS Namibia.
The index also recorded a three percentage point increase to 76% from the previous three months, on confidence in the economic outlook for Namibia over the next twelve months. However, confidence regarding whether the worst of the economic turmoil is over, reached a record low of 54%.

Vermeulen says it is encouraging to note that Namibian professionals have an increased confidence in the local economy in light of current global economic uncertainty. “This confidence is reflective of positive reports on Namibia from both Fitch Ratings and Moody’s with growth forecasts of 4,2% and 4% respectively.”
He said it is also interesting to note that the Namibian PCI results are significantly higher than the South African version of the index which recorded a low confidence level of 55% regarding the economic outlook for Namibia’s neighbour, says Vermeulen.
Other results from the survey revealed that confidence in the future of the health care system in Namibia over the next five years increased one percentage point to 61% compared with the previous quarter, but fell three percentage points when compared to the first quarter of 2012.
“The Namibian healthcare sector only received 10,5% of the national budget last year. In addition to this, the sector continues to face a crucial shortage of registered doctors, nurses and pharmacists. [This] most likely contributes to the slightly negative perception of the healthcare sector among professionals,” says Vermeulen.