A total of 206 building plans to the value of N$110 million were approved by the City of Windhoek in April 2015. On a year‑to‑date basis, 878 plans were approved compared to 890 plans over the same period last year. In value terms, plans approved year-to-date are worth N$472.5 million compared to N$992.1 million for the same period in 2013, down 42.3%. This year to date decrease in value of plans approved is mostly due base effects as three large commercial projects were approved by the municipality in February 2014. On a monthly basis, 68 less plans were approved in April than in March, and the total value of plans approved was up N$84.8 million m/m.
The 12 month cumulative number of plans approved continued to lose momentum during April after a slight reversal seen in March, falling to 2,834 compared to 2,875 in March, with the year-on-year growth rate contracting by 10.3%, posting negative growth for the twelfth consecutive month, as shown in the graph below. The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved totaled N$1.878 billion, down 23.4% y/y, with the base again having a drag effect.
In our view the construction sector will remain one of the leading growth and development sectors for 2015 in the Namibian economy, with both private sector and government having aggressive development plans. However, many such plans fall out of the Windhoek municipal area, and as such are not captured in the monthly building plan statistics.