NAMIBIA scored 61,9 in the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, making its economy the 76th freest in the 184 countries ranked worldwide.
Its score is 0,8 point worse than last year, with declines in five of the ten categories of economic freedom. Namibia is ranked 7th out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score is above the world and regional averages.The Namibian economy continues to be categorised as ‘moderately free.’ Earlier reforms have enabled the economy to continue modest economic growth. Aided by a stable regulatory environment and a relatively high degree of openness to global trade, annual economic growth has averaged about four per cent over the past five years.Nonetheless, Namibia’s economic expansion is not strongly sustained by government policies or institutions. As reflected in low scores for property rights and freedom from corruption, overall economic freedom is constrained by deficiencies in the judicial framework. Protection of property rights is weak, and the government has not been effective in eliminating corruption. The legal system is inconsistent in contract enforcement and vulnerable to political influence. Mistrust of government continues, particularly due to pervasive corruption in the executive and judicial branches
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