Justicia Shipena
The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) says the rollout of the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (Fima) will not lead to changes in industry levies.
Speaking at the launch of Namfisa’s annual report on Thursday, Namfisa chief executive officer Kenneth Matomola said the current levy framework already accounts for the act.
“Our levy setting is fixed for five years in terms of our strategic period. So, we do not foresee any increase in levies. Even if Fima is implemented tomorrow, there will be no changes, because our strategy has already taken that into account,” Matomola said.
Levies are mandatory fees that financial institutions pay to support regulatory oversight. Namfisa collects these levies and supervises the institutions to ensure compliance.
He explained that Namfisa develops new strategies every five years, costs them, and then proposes levies to fund them.
These proposals go through consultations with industry players before submission to the minister of finance for approval.
Matomola stressed that levies are percentage-based, meaning nominal amounts may rise in line with asset growth.
He added that Fima will expand regulation to new entities, which will fall under the same levy regime.
“The burden of levies is not on the entities but on the public. If you look at your insurance policy, you will see that small amount charged — it’s you who pays, not the company. So, the cost is ultimately borne by us, the consumers,” he said.
Fima was scheduled to take effect in 2022 but was delayed after a decade-long drafting process and strong criticism from industry, unions, and the public.
Concerns included inadequate consultation and fears that regulations would increase administrative costs.
In response to the backlash, then finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi put the bill on hold for further review, allowing more consultations.
One of the clauses in Fima would have restricted employees to only 25% access to their retirement savings before age 55.
Earlier this year, the parliamentary standing committee on budget and finance recommended that the act be re-tabled.
At that time, the committee’s chairperson, Phillipus Katamelo, called on the finance minister to table section 465, which empowers the minister to define micro-insurance and set benefit thresholds.
By September of last year, the finance ministry’s technical committee was still scrutinising the act, with research ongoing and findings yet to be presented to the minister.
At the time, Matomola stressed that Fima could only come into force once the minister gave approval.
In its latest annual report, Namfisa said favourable market conditions, lower interest rates, and moderate inflation boosted the non-banking financial sector’s value to N$474.1 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This represents a 14.3% increase compared to the 4.2% decline recorded the previous year.
