Observer Money

CHAMWE KAIRA Local companies listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange have announced a number of changes to their boards of directors. Letshego Holdings Namibia Limited has appointed Jerome Mutumba as independent non-executive director effective 15 July 2024. Mutumba is a seasoned business executive and strategist with nearly 21 years of senior management experience across the financial and commercial sectors, including central banking, mining, and development finance. As a well-rounded corporate executive and business management strategist by training, Mutumba possesses authoritative expertise in all relevant areas of business management and has held high-level strategic responsibilities at…

De Beers will expand its flexibility for this month’s sight as the miner responds to the market downturn by limiting supply rather than lowering prices. The company will allow sightholders to remove certain goods from allocations of rough diamonds and request larger buybacks than usual, it told clients last week. The July sight comes amid rising inventories and falling prices in the polished sector, especially in India. De Beers’ customers expect the company to maintain rough-price levels to avoid flooding the market and having a further negative impact on polished. De Beers’ sales policies have been in the spotlight in…

Simonis Storm Securities has said despite the minor decline in new construction project proposals, the increased number of approved building plans indicates a higher approval rate, which could be attributed to a more efficient approval process or greater confidence among developers. More importantly, the substantial rise in completed building plans reflects a significant boost in construction activity and project completions, the firm said in a report. The report said Windhoek's focus on property expansions indicates a mature market with an emphasis on enhancing existing structures. “This trend suggests that homeowners and developers see more value in upgrading and expanding current…

CHAMWE KAIRA The Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFI) assets amounted to N$419.4 billion at the end of 2023, according to figures given to Observer Money, by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa)’s Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Matomola. Number of regulated entities as at 31 December 2023, included 78 active pension funds, seven medical aid funds, one active friendly society, 14 long-term insurance companies, 14 short-term insurance companies, 21 special purpose vehicles, 21-unit trust management companies, 31 investment managers, 31 unlisted investment managers, 560 microlenders, one stock exchange, four linked investment services providers, four stockbrokers, including sponsors. Namfisa exists to supervise…

Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa), Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Matomola talks about the state of the non-banking financial sector, the state of medical aid industry and new innovations being supported by Namfisa. Observer Money (OM): How would you describe the performance of Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) in the first half of 2024? Kenneth Matomola (KM): According to the data collected from the NBFI sector by Namfisa, despite the contractionary monetary policy environment, demand for NBFI products remains strong. The NBFI sector remains financially sound and does not pose any systemic risk to the country’s financial system. Overall, the NBFI…

CHAMWE KAIRA Simonis Storm Securities expect the South African Reserve Bank to implement its first rate cut in September. The firm believes that the political landscape in South Africa shows positive signs moving forward, but economic growth remains subdued, and further evidence is needed to confirm sustained improvement. In contrast, for Namibia, the firm project the Bank of Namibia to implement a 25 basis points cut by the end of 2024. The South African Reserve Bank decided to keep its key repo rate at 8.25% on 30 May marking the sixth consecutive meeting at 2009-highs, as widely expected. While the…

CHAMWE KAIRA Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa), Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Matomola has encouraged Namibians to lodge their complaints with Namfisa to ensure a fair resolution when they have disputes with non-banking financial institutions. He explained that a complaint must first be lodged with the financial institution concerned and the clients must ensure that they receive a response in writing. If not satisfied with the response received from the financial institution, a complaint must be lodged with Namfisa. He said the complaints can be emailed, or submitted in person at the Namfisa head office, faxed or sent by post.…

CHAMWE KAIRA The year-on-year inflation rate stood at 4.8% in Zone 1 (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi) in June this year compared to 5.2% registered during June 2023. The Namibia Statistics Agency said the slowdown in the annual inflation rate emanated mainly from the slow increases registered in the price levels of ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ (from 11% to 4.1%); ‘education’ (from 4.5% to 0.6%); ‘miscellaneous goods and services’ (from 6.8% to 1.4%); ‘clothing and footwear’ (from 3.7% to 1.9%); and ‘furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house’ (from 6.4% to…