Namibia’s economy to grow 2.9 percent

Namibia’s domestic economic growth is expected to rise to 2.9 percent in 2017, according to the Bank of Namibia. The central bank on Tuesday released the February 2017 Economic Outlook Update, with domestic economic growth estimated to have slowed to 1 percent in 2016, and now expected to improve. The bank said its estimated growth rate is much lower compared to November 2016, in which it projected growth of 2.5 percent and 4 percent for 2016 and 2017, respectively. “The lower growth expectation for 2016, when compared to the last update, is due to deeper contractions in diamond mining and construction than earlier expected,” the statement read.