A total of 213 building plans to the value of N$172.5 million were approved by the City of Windhoek in February 2015. On a year‑to‑date basis (January to February), 398 plans were approved compared to 495 plans over the same period last year. In value terms, plans approved year-to-date are worth N$267.4 million compared to N$695.1 million for the same period in 2014, down 61.5%. This decrease is mostly due base effects as three large commercial projects were approved by the municipality in February 2014. On a monthly basis, a few more plans were approved in February when compared to January, and the value of plans approved is up 81.8% m/m. The higher figures are mainly seasonal as December and January tend to be slower months.
The 12 month cumulative number of plans approved continued to lose momentum during February, falling to 2,749 compared to 2,803 in January, with the year-on-year growth rate contracting by 16.4%, posting negative growth for the tenth consecutive month, as shown in the graph below. The 12-month cumulative value of plans approved totaled N$1.870 billion, down 27.2% 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.