Feature: Namibia takes knocks from Angola's economic meltdown

The Angolan economic bubble burst caused by the fall of crude oil prices in 2014 is affecting Namibia's real estate, schools and medical centers.

About 11 sectors - health care, education, banking, retail, accommodation, tourism, construction, education, and banking - are feeling the cold from the economic meltdown in Angola.

A number of Angolans studied English and various other short courses in Namibian capital Windhoek staying for up to six months, while others came to shop.

Now with the economy that heavily relied on oil exports depressed, most of the students have gone back, while others have become street vendors because they cannot go back home amid the economic woes.

Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that Angola's economic growth slowed down to three percent in 2015 because of the low oil prices.

At the same time, the IMF said, inflation rose sharply to 29.2 percent year-on-year in May this year thereby taking down the kwanza that depreciated by 40 percent to the U.S dollar.

This gloomy outlook has also affected Namibia especially Windhoek where most Angolans used to find it very affordable to study and shop using the U.S dollar.

Most shops, especially at Oshikango (700 kilometers north of Windhoek), a town at the northern border of Namibia and Angola experienced losses of about 4 billion Namibian dollars (about 280 million U.S dollars) between 2014 and Dec. 2015.

Shops in other towns such as Rundu, also about 700 kilometers from Windhoek, Oshakati and Ondangwa in the north have so far recorded a fall of 25 percent.

Accommodation facilities - hotels and lodges have so far recorded about 90 percent revenue decline since the Angolan economy started to slow down.

More than 20 Namibian companies involved in the trucking business have also collapsed, while business in the transport sector slowed down by 70 percent.

Between Feb. 2015 and Feb. 2016, more than 700 Namibians lost jobs at Oshikango when shops closed down because of low cross border trade.

But the effects of Angola's economic slowdown are most visible in Windhoek where blocks of flats and houses where Angolans used to stay are standing empty.

Xinhua reporters managed to see empty flats around Windhoek that were once occupied by Angolans. This is a huge difference from a year ago when finding accommodation was difficult because of high demand.

A number of landlords who made rolling business renting out houses and rooms to Angolan students told Xinhua that since the economic problems hit Namibia's northern neighbor, their businesses have been suffering.

One of the landlords who owns blocks of flats in Windhoek and is currently building more, said he was thinking of turning the buildings into offices.

Although it is not clear how many Angolan have dropped out of other universities since their economy started to decline, the University of Namibia that had 151 students in 2014, currently has about 89.

The housing market is not the only one affected. Schools run mostly by Zimbabweans offering English lessons to Angolans have been hit hard.

Nicholas Samaita, who came to Windhoek from Harare in 2008, never had less than 70 Angolan students studying English at his small college. Today, he will be lucky to have 10 students at one time.

Samaita told Xinhua that if the situation in Angola does not improve, he would be forced to close down or find something different to do.

"Angolans pay in advance when they come. If they are taking a six-month course, they pay in cash," he told Xinhua. Endit