Chamwe Kaira
The microlending loan book grew by 12.8% year-on-year, reaching N$8.1 billion by the end of 2024, the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) said in its 2025 annual report.
The growth was reflected in higher disbursement figures, supported by both term lenders and payday lenders.
Namfisa said term lenders accounted for the largest share of the loan book’s value, totalling N$7.6 billion, or about 94% of the total.
The total value of disbursed loans rose by 44.9% from the previous year, reaching N$5.2 billion.
“The growth was driven by increased transactions between lenders and borrowers in the term and payday loan categories. Term lenders consistently provided loans with higher average amounts compared to payday lenders. Over the review period, the average loan amount from term lenders was N$27 885, and payday lenders recorded a year-on-year average of N$3875,” Namfisa said.
The number of new loans issued increased by 54.8% to 700 393 by the end of 2024.
Term lenders drove most of the growth, while the number of loans from payday lenders declined.
Despite this, payday lenders accounted for 82% of the total new loans, with term lenders making up the rest.
The cumulative number of household borrowers rose by 8.4% to 240 475 by the end of 2024.
“The growth was supported by an increase in both term and payday lending. Term borrowers continued to outnumber payday borrowers at the end of the review period,” Namfisa said.
Complaints against microlenders included overcharging of interest, illegal deductions, retention of personal documents, non-provision of information, and the extension of loan periods.
A total of 75 complaints were registered in 2024, according to the report.
Caption
The average amount paid to payday lenders was N$3 875 last year.
- Photo: Contributed
