Namibia’s financial markets have been ranked sixth most developed out of 26 African countries evaluated in a 2022 study conducted by the Absa Group in association with the London-based Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).
Now in its sixth year, the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index evaluates countries’ financial development based on measures of market accessibility, openness and transparency.
The aim is to show how economies can reduce the barriers to investment which can, in turn, boost sustainable growth.
Namibia moved one place up – with a score of 65 this year from 58 recorded last year – primarily due to progress in adopting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies and frameworks. South Africa, Mauritius and Nigeria maintained their top three positions in the survey.
Scores are determined by the relative, rather than absolute, performance of each country across six key pillars: market depth; access to foreign exchange; market transparency, tax and regulatory environment; capacity of local investors; macroeconomic environment and transparency; and legal standards and enforceability.
In addition to quantitative data analysis, OMFIF conducts surveys of over 50 organisations across Africa to produce the index.
This includes responses from central banks, securities exchanges, regulators, market participants, accounting firms and international development organisations.
The index has become a benchmark for the investment community to gauge African countries’ market infrastructure and is used by policymakers to learn from developments across the continent.
OMFIF is an independent forum for central banking, economic policy and public investment.
