NSA blitz survey confirms financial catastrophe for many businesses
A recent business poll by the Namibia Statistics Agency showed that 97 out of 226 respondents have lost more than 80% of their revenue since the devastating lockdown was imposed. Another 107 respondents reported revenue losses ranging from 10% to 80%.
In an attempt to quantify the financial havoc wreaked by the lockdown, the agency conducted an 11-day survey at the beginning of May targeting 546 formal businesses in 16 economic sub-sectors. Of these, 226 businesses responded giving the poll a very respectable response rate of 41.4%.
The Statistician General, Mr Alex Shimuafeni said that 96.5% of the respondents indicated that they were adversely affected by the lockdown. They further expect the negative impact to continue for the foreseeable future. About half of the respondents reported that they managed to trade partially while one quarter had to suspend all business activities.
The three sub-sectors where the highest number of respondents participated also reflect those that are most affected by the lockdown – 47 in manufacturing, 31 in hospitality and 23 in construction. The agency noted that one particular challenge they experienced when trying to reach the intended sample group, was non-availability which could be the result of businesses having shut down.
In total, almost 90% (204) of the respondents indicated that they have lost revenue as a result of the lockdown.
The agency stated that the survey results provide some understanding of the lockdown dynamics, which will be followed up with more research to inform policymakers.
