The Namibia Deposit Guarantee Authority (NDGA) is currently conducting stakeholder engagements in the ||Kharas Region.

The NDGA aims to protect depositors from the loss of their deposits by compensating them in the unlikely event of a commercial bank failure.

The scheme also safeguards against panic withdrawals by assuring depositors of the safety of their deposits.

"The primary mandate is really for us to administer the deposit guarantee scheme that is aimed at protecting depositors from the loss of their deposits by compensating them in any unlikely event of a commercial bank failure, and this then also enhances their consumer protection but also generally looking at protecting financial stability and ensuring that the system is stable in Namibia," said the Head of the Namibia Deposit Guarantee Authority, Florette Nakusera.

The Scheme currently has a guaranteed coverage limit of N$25,000, which provides protection to more than 90% of current depositors.

"Typically, these types of institutions are setup to protect the small depositors, because usually it is the small depositors that are caught off guard; the big depositors can move their funds around because they have the information, so the threshold in many jurisdictions usually targets the small depositors, and at that level of N$25,000, we are fully covering over 90% percent of depositors in Namibia," explained Petrus Shifotoka, Manager for Operations at NDGA.

||Kharas Governor Aletha Fredericks commended the initiative.

"We assume when we are in institutions representing ordinary citizens that people are supposed to know these things, which is not the case, and I am happy to see in the letter that you have sent to my office that you are here to share information and also that people will have the opportunity to ask questions and understand what you stand for."

All Namibian banking institutions and branches of foreign banks and building societies are obligated to be members of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme.