The Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa), Kenneth Matomola, has raised concerns regarding the current regulatory framework, saying it hampers Namfisa’s ability to fulfil its mandate.

During a briefing at the Government Information Centre (GIC) on Tuesday, Matomola said Namfisa is tasked with overseeing non-bank financial institutions, but outdated laws pose significant obstacles to achieving their objectives.

The Bank of Namibia (BoN) and Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA)'s Financial Stability Report (FSR) for 2023 indicates that the Namibian financial system remained sound and resilient in 2022.

Projected vulnerabilities in the global financial system could, however, potentially impact the domestic financial system.

Domestic economic growth improved from 3.5% in 2021 to 4.6% in 2022.

This is attributed to the primary and secondary industries, which recorded growth rates of 12.9% and 3.3%, respectively.

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) has called on Namibian innovators to register for the FinTech Square second edition.

The two-day event will be held in Windhoek on May 10–11, 2023, with the theme ‘Innovate | Collaborate | Elevate: Towards Digital Transformation in the Financial Services Sector'.

The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Movement's frontman and social activist, Dr. Job Amupanda, has accused the Benchmark Retirement Fund of being in cahoots with NAMFISA to change the provisions of the Pension Fund.

The changes, Dr. Amupanda says, will have dire consequences for fund members and their families.

On Tuesday, Dr. Amupanda presented to the public a strategy with a different color but with similar characteristics to the delayed Financial Institutions and Markets Act, Fima.

The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) has received public and industry input on supplementary legislation to the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA) and feedback on this will be communicated during the last quarter of this year.

Speaking at the Legislative and Supervisory Reform conference in Swakopmund, Namfisa's CEO, Kenneth Matomola, says that to ensure Namibia's financial system is stable and sound, transformation is necessary from outdated legislative frameworks, which are a challenge to regulation and supervisory.

The Non-banking financial sector assets have grown by 14% despite an economic downturn, which translates to N$370 billion as of December 2021.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa), Kenneth Matomola, revealed this during the launch of its 2022 annual report.

Matomola says the increase in the total of the sector's assets was due to improved performance in the equity markets and does not pose risk to the financial system.