Bilateral trade between Namibia and Zimbabwe remained strong throughout 2025, featuring a notable trade surplus where Namibia exported significantly more to Zimbabwe than it imported.
This performance was revealed by Peter Shivute, Executive for Market Access and Export Promotion at the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board, during a presentation at the Namibia-Zimbabwe Business Forum held as part of ZimTrade’s Outward Mission to Namibia.
Shivute revealed that imports increased substantially from US$3.4 million in 2024 to US$5.3 million in 2025, a rise of 55.9%, albeit from a low base.
Imports were concentrated in mineral substances, malt, and pharmaceutical products. Other minerals made up most of the imports with US$1.2 million, followed by malt with US$ 875,000, medicaments (bulk) with US$585,000, fruit and vegetable juices with US$479,000, and raw tobacco and tobacco refuse with US$ 405,000.
In contrast, exports declined slightly from US$48 million in 2024 to USD 46 million, a decrease of 4.2%. In 2025, frozen fish led exports to Zimbabwe with US$13 million, followed by petroleum oils at US$11 million, semiconductor devices at US$10 million, Nitrogenous fertilisers at US$4 million and poultry meat and edible offal at US$1.7 million.
“Overall, trade remained strongly export-led in 2025, with Namibia exporting far more to Zimbabwe than Zimbabwe exported to Namibia. Namibia’s 2025 total exports to Zimbabwe were highly concentrated in frozen fish, petroleum oils and semiconductors. Namibia’s top imports from Zimbabwe in 2025 were concentrated in mineral substances, malt and other minerals. We need to leverage each other. That’s where it is: petroleum products, frozen fish, semiconductor devices,” Shivute noted.
