Chamwe Kaira
In 2024, the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) received the highest number of complaints against the long-term insurance industry, totalling 138.
The short-term insurance industry followed with 89 complaints, while the microlending sector recorded 75.
Pension funds received 59 complaints, medical aid funds 10, and the capital markets industry two.
Namfisa said consumer protection remains a top priority, with efforts aimed at building a financial environment where consumers are informed, protected, and confident in their dealings. The authority supervises both the long- and short-term insurance industries.
Namfisa board chairperson Hettie Garbers-Kirsten said Namfisa safeguards consumers through regulations and financial literacy initiatives.
She noted that reforms are also being implemented to ensure the authority adapts to a changing global financial landscape, with the aim of promoting compliance and innovation.
“Our goal is to foster a financial environment where consumers are well-informed, protected, and confident in their financial dealings. We safeguard consumers through fair regulations and financial literacy initiatives. Simultaneously, regulatory reforms ensure agility in a fast-changing global financial landscape, promoting compliance and innovation,” Garbers-Kirsten said.
Namfisa’s chief executive officer, Kenneth Matomola, said Namfisa has prioritised consumer protection and sector resilience in its 2025/26 business plan.
“We are implementing the revised Namfisa Act, the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (Fima), the Consumer Credit Bill, and the Financial Adjudicator Bill to ensure a fair and stable financial system,” he said.
The 2025/26 plan lists five main goals: improving how regulations work by using digital tools, making the financial sector stronger by focusing on risks, encouraging new ideas with the Regulatory Sandbox, supporting the use of FinTech with projects like the FinTech Square, and ensuring that Namfisa and the institutions it oversees are financially stable.
To meet these goals, Namfisa plans to strengthen data-driven decision-making through digital transformation, conduct a 2025 crisis simulation exercise to improve crisis preparedness, and roll out targeted financial literacy programmes.
“Consumer protection remains central to Namfisa’s mandate. Our role is to ensure that financial institutions operate fairly, responsibly, and in a way that promotes confidence in the financial system,” Matomola said.
Namfisa confirmed progress on new and amended legislation. The Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority Act, 2021 (No. 3 of 2021), and the Financial Institutions and Markets Act, 2021 (No. 2 of 2021) have yet to commence, pending dates to be set by the Minister of Finance.
The Namfisa Act, promulgated in October 2021, expands the authority’s mandate, strengthens supervisory powers, and enhances governance capacity.
The Fima Act, also promulgated in October 2021, modernises and consolidates the laws governing industries under Namfisa, excluding the Usury Act of 1968, the Microlending Act of 2018, and the Credit Agreements Act of 1980.
The consumer credit bill was finalised and submitted to the Ministry of Finance for approval on 17 December 2024.
It seeks to consolidate and reform credit laws, establish a consumer credit regulator, and strengthen oversight of credit providers, credit bureaus, and debt collectors.
The bill also aims to improve consumer protection, promote responsible lending and borrowing, and repeal the Usury Act, the Credit Agreements Act, and the Microlending Act.
Namfisa also said key subordinate legislation under the Fima Act has been drafted and approved by governance structures.
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Picture used for illustrative purposes
