Live in Rundu Instead of Windhoek
It is no doubt that Rundu is the fastest-growing town in Namibia but the question remains, does Rundu have everything that Windhoek can offer?
Firstly, Rundu is the second largest town in Namibia. The population of Rundu is 58 000 as compared to Windhoek’s population of 268 000. Walvis Bay comes third with its population of about 52 000 people please refer to here. With this information, it shows that a growing population of Rundu leads to economic growth and more human capital which will generate a higher living standard. Businesses that are thriving and struggling in Windhoek have a higher probability of thriving and surviving in Rundu. This is because the population of Rundu is in the middle and resources are widely shared more or less equal to everyone doing such business.
In Windhoek, this is not the case. It is likely that a lot of people are doing the same business and are competing for the same resources henceforth, leading to scarcity. A good example is someone with a taxi business in Windhoek, approximately there are 7 000 taxis in Windhoek (The Namibia, 2017), and it indicated that in 2022, taxi drivers make on average about N$5000 a month whereas the monthly living cost for a single person in Windhoek is N$8 954 without rent please refer here. Therefore, if your income is minimum, living in Windhoek is very hard. But if you can make it in Windhoek, you can even escalate your growth if you are in Rundu.
Secondly, Rundu has everything Windhoek can offer even more. Renting or building your own house is very cheap in Rundu than in Windhoek. According to NamibiaHub (2022), building a 3-bedroom house in Windhoek costs on average N$500 000 whereas, it is N$330 000 in Rundu. Also, Rundu is just developing so the government is pouring more resources in the two regions. Nkurenkuru, Sambyu, and Divundu are booming towns so the sooner you invest in them the better. Let’s not speculate but the BIG OIL PROJECT could be a game changer if oil will be extracted. Anyway, the future looks bright for the region of Kavango and the economic growth is rising here
In conclusion, smaller towns such as Rundu, Ongwediva, and Oshakati should be a future to invest in a long time with business opportunities and raising families. They are cheaper and most of the opportunities are still untapped.
About the article: This is an opinionated article with some facts here and there. Research is needed before one can make a big decision in their life about where to raise families or start a business. All the views expressed in this article are for the author’s own sake.