FNB – Windhoek Observer

16 Dec

FNB House Price Index shows green shoots in house prices

ObserverUncategorisedFNB, FNB House Price Index

Staff Writer The FNB House Price Index recorded a 12-month average growth of 0.7 percent year-on-year as at September 2020. This is the first time in nearly three years that the index marks a growth territory. “The rebound in house prices further affirms our earlier view, as highlighted in the prior quarterly publication, that house price deceleration has seemingly reached a pinnacle. This brings the national weighted average house price to N$1 233 106 as at September 2020” said Frans Uusiku, FNB Market Researcher. “The increase in house prices has been partly fuelled by the completion of new developments in…

20 Nov

Rent prices slip back into negative territory

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, FNB, FNB Residential Rental Index, Frans Uusiku

Staff Writer The FNB Residential Rental Index shows that the 12-month moving average growth in rent prices took a dip of -1.3 percent at the end of September 2020., bringing the national weighted average rent to N$7 091 at the end of September 2020 compared to N$7 164 recorded over the same period in 2019. “The sudden return of the rental index growth into negative territory affirms the pass-through effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the rental market. This is unsurprising given the notable job losses and reduced income for the most part of the workforce as the country implemented COVID-19…

04 Nov

Post-Covid-19 business success is not about navigating the new normal, it’s about defining it

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, FNB

Sam Ikela Apart from the obvious impact of months of lockdown regulations on business turnover and profitability, one of the biggest challenges that faced organisations during the first few months of Covid-19 was a complete lack of data. The world had never faced a situation quite like this, and given the significant dependence of businesses on data for strategy development and decision making, most companies found themselves having to ‘shoot from the hip’ given that there was now a structural break in their data flows, and they had no access to any particularly relevant customer, industry or economic data to…

29 Oct

Small savings can go a long way

ObserverUncategorisedBank Your Change, Elzita Beukes, FNB, FNB’s Savings Pocket

Staff Writer You don’t have to put away thousands to see the benefit of savings. In fact, starting small will not only give you the confidence that saving is possible, but will also help with your finances in the long run. “Starting a new savings habit will probably be the best financial decision you can make,” says Elzita Beukes, FNB Communications Manager. Here are a few tips to get started: Find a suitable account Now that you have decided to save, you need an account that is best suited to your new savings habit. This needs to be separate to…

10 Oct

First National named best bank in Namibia

ObserverUncategorisedFNB, Global Finance, Namibia

Staff Writer Global Finance magazine has announced its 27th annual awards for the World’s Best Banks, and FNB was awarded as the best bank in Namibia. Winners were chosen in more than 150 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and Western Europe and were chosen based on careful attendance to their customers’ needs in difficult markets and the accomplishment of better results while laying the foundations for future success. All selections were made by the editors of Global Finance after extensive consultations with corporate financial executives, bankers, banking consultants, and analysts…

10 Jul

Predictions for the Future of Work

ObserverUncategorisedFNB, FNB Head of Digital Transformation, Namibia

Sergio de Sousa As the world of work changes, we look at what you can do to survive and thrive. Sergio de Sousa, FNB Head of Digital Transformation shares his predictions for the future world of work. Freelancers will rise An increasing number of people will work as freelancers, or on a project-by-project basis, rather than on traditional 8-to-5 employment terms. This phenomenon has earned its own buzz phrase: ‘the gig economy’, with ‘gig’ referring to a temporary job while also referencing 'gigabytes' of data required to operate in this way. This also allows businesses to better manage their costs…

26 Jun

FNB supports Van Rhyn Primary School

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust, FNB

Community Donation of N$10,000 from FNB Central Cluster Brian Kandanga through the FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust. Items include: Face protector shields, gloves, hand sanitizers and masks. Due to the current situation (COVID-19) the school finds itself in a very difficult financial situation. As per WHO and Namibian Government regulations, schools need to purchase items which are very costly. The school can only guarantee quality education if the learners are healthy and if measures are in place that can protect them from the current pandemic. “From the school on the hill, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to FNB…

10 Jun

First quarter house prices tumble

ObserverUncategorisedFNB, FNB House Price Index, Frans Uusiku

Staff Writer The FNB House Price Index has posted a contraction of 5.9 percent year on year ( y/y) at the end of March 2020 compared to a contraction of 1.5 percent recorded over the same period of 2019. “This brought the average national house price to a 5-year record low of N$1 038 577 as at March 2020” Although overall house prices in the central and coastal regions have remained buoyant, registering growth of 8.2m percent y/y and 7.2 percent y/y over the first quarter respectively, this was overshadowed by steep contractions of 18.7 percent y/y and 13.6 percent…

20 May

Rental prices rebound

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, FNB, FNB Rental Index, Frans Uusiku

Staff Writer The FNB Rental Index for the first quarter of 2020 shows that overall residential rent prices rebounded from a two-year negative growth territory. Frans Uusiku, FNB Market Research Manager said the Covid-19 lockdown is bound to paint a different picture when looking at quarter two of 2020. “Although we reached a 12-month average growth of 0.0 percent at the end of March, bringing the national monthly average rent price to N$ 7465, we know that the pandemic has disrupted business activity, resulting in job losses and reduced income for the most part of the labour force. This is…

22 Apr

FNB Namibia provides relief to SMEs impacted by COVID-19

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, First National Bank Namibia, FNB, Namibia

Staff Writer Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, First National Bank Namibia has been closely monitoring developments, with the view of provisionally restructuring its operations and solutions to meet the changing demands and minimising the impact of the pandemic. FNB Namibia commends the Government of Namibia on its decision to invoke extreme social distancing (lockdown) and believes that the decision is a major step in the right direction towards containing the spread on the COVID-19, and drastically minimising its impact on our society and economy. Philip Chapman, FNB Executive Officer for Commercial assured customers that in addition to putting…