Banking in Namibia

Banking in Namibia started in June 1906, when German colonists formed the Deutsche Afrika Bank, which would become the First National Bank of Namibia. Following Namibian Independence in 1990, the Namibian banking sector came under the control of the new government which restructured the sector and created the Bank of Namibia as the central bank. Today banking is dominated by South African commercial banks who operate subsidiaries in Namibia.[1]

History

Banking in Namibia started in June 1906, when German colonists formed the Deutsche Afrika Bank,[2] which would become the First National Bank of Namibia. Following Namibia Independence in 1990s, the Namibian banking sector came under the control of the new government.

The 1990s saw the restructuring of the Namibian banking system, with new commercial banks created, and a new central bank, Bank of Namibia set up. The architect of this restructuring, Dr WL Bernard, became the first governor of the new central bank.

Banks

Main article: List of banks in Namibia

Banking in Namibia is regulated by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NamFISA), an organisation of government.[3]

The Bank of Namibia functions as the central bank of Namibia, whose establishment is enshrined in Article 128 of the Namibian Constitution. The bank is located in the capital, Windhoek. The Bank of Namibia was established in 1990 by the Bank of Namibia Act, 1990 (Act 8 of 1990). The Bank of Namibia is the only institution that is permitted to issue the Namibian dollar by the authority that has been given to it under an Act of the Namibian Parliament. The head of the Bank of Namibia is the Governor of the Bank of Namibia.

Commercial banks with a banking license are:[4]

  1. Banco Privado Atlántico Namibia
  2. Bank BIC Namibia Limited
  3. Bank Windhoek Limited
  4. First National Bank Namibia
  5. Letshego Bank Namibia[5]
  6. Nedbank Namibia Limited
  7. Standard Bank Namibia
  8. Trustco Bank Namibia, formerly FIDES

EBank, a bank with electronic presence but no branches, operated between 2015 and 2017.[6] It is now part of FNB.[7]

Namibia has 400 registered microlenders which offer "payday lending" (1–5 months repayment period, maximum interest 30% once-off) and "term lending" (6–60 months repayment period, maximum interest double that of commercial banks). In 2022, over 230,000 households were indebted with microlenders to a total of 7.3 billion N$.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "History of banking". August 23, 2007. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  2. ^ Krause, Detlef (2017). "Hamburg als Standort der privaten Universal-/ Großbanken im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert" (PDF). IBF Paper Series (in German) (7). Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft: 10.
  3. ^ a b Hartmann, Adam (27 October 2022). "Over 230 000 Namibian Households Turn to 'Cash Loans'". The Namibian. Finance and Corporate Social Investment supplement. p. 5.
  4. ^ Bank of Namibia (12 February 2020). "Licensed Commercial Banks In Namibia". Windhoek: Bank of Namibia. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. ^ Ramokopelwa, Koobonye (21 July 2016). "Letshego Namibia granted banking license". Botswana Guardian. Gaborone. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Ebank transforming banking in Namibia". The Namibian. 23 November 2015. p. 17.
  7. ^ Nakashole, Ndama (15 November 2017). "FNB swallows up EBank". The Namibian. p. 1.