Namibia is ranked 104th in the Doing Business 2020 rankings – an improvement over its ranking of 117th out of 190 countries in 2019.The country’s ranking improved due to a combination of making it easier to enforce contracts, to register properties, to obtain credit, getting electricity, resolving insolvency and starting a business. However, Namibia made paying taxes more complicated for companies by introducing a new vocational education and training levy, according to the 2020 Doing Business report.The country also increased the mandatory paid annual leave to 24 consecutive days per annum.“Reducing the time and cost associated with border compliance when obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during port or border handling, customs clearance and inspection procedures for shipment to cross ports of entry/exit or international borders will be essential to aid Namibia’s recovery from the pandemic’s impact and increase competitiveness in the world’s trade and its logistic markets,” state the authors of the Namibia State of Logistics 2020 report.Over 72% of total ton-kilometres of goods transported in Namibia travel by road, according to the report.The Walvis Bay-Ndola Lubumbashi Development Corridor is the longest (2 690 km) and connects Namibia to neighbouring SADC countries Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together with the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, which is 1 551 km in length, it provides what is described as a fast and safe road link between Namibia’s port of Walvis Bay on the Atlantic coast and landlocked neighbouring countries. The Trans-Cunene Corridor (1 551 km) extends through the northern part of Namibia into southern Angola, and the Trans-Oranje Corridor (1 550 km) links the Port of Lüderitz with the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
