Overall new business registrations drop by 7.3% in 2022 – BIPA
Registered business entities for the year 2022 dropped by 7.3% compared to the 2021 calendar year, the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) said in a statement this week.
According to the Registrar of Business and Intellectual Property, Vivienne Katjiuongua, BIPA recorded a total of 12,666 registrations on its business register for the period January — December 2022.
From the total number of registrations, 11 130 comprised of Close Corporations (CCs), 1 153 for Companies, 318 registrations were for Section 21 Companies (Associations Not For Gain), 49 were Defensive Names and 16 were Foreign Companies. This number shows a decline of 7.3% from the same period in 2021 when the Authority recorded a total of 13 594 registrations.
“Although BIPA observed a decline of 9% in the registrations of CCs during 2022, compared to 2021, the Authority saw an increase in the number of companies registered by 12% compared to the previous year,” said Katjiuongua.
Katjiuongua further pointed out that from the 12 thousand business entities that were registered, the Authority also recorded a total of 869 deregistrations for 2022. 613 of which were ccs and 256 companies. A total of 5 companies were recorded under liquidation during the same period.
Noted Katjiuongua “the number of registrations fluctuates year-on-year, depending on the socio-economic climate in Namibia and the appetite for investment in the country. Therefore, BIPA is confident that should the investment climate and economic activities improve, especially in the domestic market, we may see an uptake in new business registrations for the ensuing year”.
As it relates to foreign ownership of businesses for the year 2022, BIPA records show that 2,698 foreign nationals were recorded as either members, directors, or shareholders in newly registered businesses.
The countries that topped the list of foreign business ownership in Namibia for the period 2022 were South Africa, recording 698 individuals registered as business owners, followed by Zimbabwe with 630, China with 239, and Nigeria with 104.
During the previous year (2021), Zimbabwe topped the list of foreign owners for the period with 970 individuals registered as business owners.
Considering the number of newly registered entities in Namibia for the period under review, BIPA remains a critical player and an enabler for economic growth and development, as well as job creation.
As far as it relates to business ownership by gender, from the approximate 12-thousand entities registered during 2022, BIPA recorded a total of 43,938 individuals as new business owners, of which 27-thousand are male and 17-thousand are female. Considering the total number of new business owners, 2 698 were foreign nationals which constitutes 6% of the overall number.
“Client service excellence remains a key strategic focus for BIPA, considering that we received
over 30 thousand walk-in clients between January — December 2022,” said Ockert Jansen, Executive Marketing and Corporate Communications at BIPA.
Since the introduction of its call centre in July 2021, BIPA has been able to improve its service
provisions to clients telephonically and has recorded a total of 27 249 calls received during 2022, maintaining a service level of 82%.
Meanwhile, the granting and protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) remains a critical mandate of the Authority as outlined in terms of sections 2 and 5 of the BIPA Act, 2016 (Act No. 8 of 2016).
For the period under review, BIPA received a total of 778 Trademark applications. The Authority also registered 1 478 trademarks, thereby granting exclusive rights to the rights owners for 10 years.
“We are however disappointed with the number of voluntary registrations of copyright applications received during 2022, as only 54 applications were received, and certificates issued to copyright holders,” Jansen.
