• Market Watch

Namfisa hopeful for 2025 Fima implementation

• 1 Month Ago - 2024-09-27 00:00:00

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) says it is hopeful the Financial Institutions Markets Act (Fima) will be implemented next year.
This follows the completion of a study into the Act by a technical advisory committee appointed by finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi in 2022, which was tasked to review aspects of the proposed legislation that have been met with resistance.
Namfisa CEO Kenneth Matomola said the financial watchdog had received the report on the Act and said he is hopeful it can become legislation next year.
“We have received the report from the technical advisory committee. Probably by the end of September or beginning of October, he [Shiimi] will pronounce himself. We are still hopeful that Fima will come into being next year, in 2025,” Matomola said.

Sectoral performance
Touching on other aspects related to the regulatory authority, Matomola said entities in the non-banking financial (NBFI) sector saw a significant growth in assets.
“The NBFI sector assets grew by 13.3% to N$414.8 billion at the end of 2023. The demand for NBFI products stayed strong throughout the year. The total number of entities under Namfisa oversight increased to 788 entities and 13 605 intermediaries,” he said.
Pension fund assets increased by 15.2% to reach N$237.1 billion in 2023. The asset growth was due to positive investment returns.
“Assets under management increased by 19.3% to N$251.6 billion as of 31 December 2023,” he said.
According to Matomola, 52.9% of assets under management are invested domestically, with the source of funds under management mainly from pension funds at 46.2%, and unit trust schemes at 32.4%.
Namfisa’s total income increased by 13.3% to N$279.5 million resulting from the financially sound and stable NBFI sector, Matomola said.
The regulator’s total comprehensive surplus for the year amounted to N$37.7 million.