Chamwe Kaira
The microlending industry, largely driven by cash loans, recorded subdued performance in the third quarter of 2025.
The total loan book stood at N$7.8 billion, reflecting a marginal quarter-on-quarter decline of 0.1%, despite a year-on-year increase of 7.2%.
Term lenders accounted for 92% of the total loan book.
The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) released its quarterly statistical bulletin for the third quarter, covering the period from 1 July to 30 September 2025.
The report provides an overview of performance, compliance and consumer protection trends across the non-banking financial institutions sector, which includes insurers, medical aid funds, retirement funds, friendly societies, capital market institutions and microlenders.
By the end of the quarter, the sector comprised 1 142 active entities and 15 406 registered intermediaries.
Regulatory compliance showed mixed results. About 60% of entities, or 682 institutions, were classified as Stage 1, indicating full compliance.
A total of 47 entities, representing 4.1%, were classified as Stage 5 for non-compliance. Microlenders accounted for 83% of all non-compliant entities.
On consumer protection, 98 complaints were recorded during the quarter. This marked a 6.7% decline from the previous quarter, though complaints were 22.5% higher than in the same period last year.
Of these, 82.7% were resolved, with 95.1% finalised within the required 40-day service-level agreement.
Consumers received total awards of N$157 105. The short-term insurance sector accounted for the highest share of complaints at 41.4%.
The broader sector continued to grow during the quarter, with total assets rising to N$528.2 billion.
This represented a 5.3% increase quarter-on-quarter and a 14.8% increase year-on-year. Pension funds, long-term insurers and collective investment schemes together made up more than 91% of total sector assets, supported by favourable market conditions.
Long-term insurance assets increased to N$93.1 billion, up 4.6% quarter-on-quarter and 12.9% year-on-year.
Short-term insurance assets rose to N$10.1 billion, reflecting growth of 4.3% quarter-on-quarter and 10.5% year-on-year, driven by higher cash holdings and increased business activity. The solvency ratio declined to 1.37 times, while the liquidity ratio remained stable at 9.6 times.
Medical aid funds recorded a net surplus of N$129.5 million, with reserves above the minimum prudential requirement of 25%. Membership increased to 223 961 beneficiaries, with growth across all categories.
Retirement funds also posted gains, with total investment assets rising to N$288.6 billion on the back of positive returns across asset classes.
Friendly societies continued to grow, with assets increasing to N$3 million.
In investment management, assets under management climbed to N$321.6 billion, while collective investment schemes grew to N$119.0 billion.
Linked investment service providers reported assets of N$22.4 billion, reflecting growth driven by market performance and new inflows.
Caption
The microlending industry showed subdued short-term performance in the third quarter of 2025.
- Photo: Contributed
