Namibia’s investment sector creates 7k jobs

The Namibian investment management sector created 7,777 jobs in the 12 months to March 31, 2022, latest figures from the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) have revealed. 

NAMFISA Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Matomola said the period under review saw an uptick in jobs created through investments in unlisted companies, which is in line with the national policy objectives to create sustainable job opportunities for Namibians. 

He noted that 5,899 jobs were on a permanent basis while 1,878 were temporary. 

This comes as pension funds and collective investment schemes accounted for the biggest portion of assets under management with 51.4% and 27.1% respectively. 

Matomola said total assets under management in respect of collective investment schemes increased by 4.9% to N$79.8 billion as at 31 December 2021. 

“Investment managers’ assets under management increased by 9.9 percent to N$207.8 billion, in terms of geographic allocation, assets under management indicate that domestic assets constituted 52.8 percent of the total assets,” he said at the launch of NAMFISA’s annual report for the financial year ended 31 March 2022 in Windhoek recently. 

He added that the domestic market had the most investments with 65.2%, followed by the CMA market and the offshore market. 

“In terms of allocation per source of funds, companies were the largest source at 36.3 percent, followed by individual persons, who had a 24.2 percent share of total collective investment scheme funds at 31 December 2021,” said Matomola. 

He further said total investments in unlisted companies as at 31 December 2021 stood at N$2.51 billion, which represents an increase of 28.9% on an annual basis compared to the previous reporting period. 

“Farming and agriculture and manufacturing were the principal sectors targeted for investments, accounting for 19.2 percent and 16.2 percent, respectively, of total commitments in unlisted investments as at 31 December 2021,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Matomola said the NBFI sector weathered the challenging economic conditions, worsened by the COVID-19 epidemic, thus the sector remained financially stable and continued to increase its assets. 

“At the end of December 2021, the asset base of the sector grew by 13.9 percent to N$370.6 billion. Growth was mainly driven by Pension fund and Long-term insurance assets, which increased year on year, and these gains were due to increases in investment income from financial markets primarily equity investments,” said the CEO. 

Matomola noted that the Authority effectively delivered on its strategic objectives, above target, as it ended its five-year strategic plan for the period 2017-2022.

 

Specifically, the effective organisational alignment of crucial systems, processes, and structures in order to get ready for the continuous implementation of risk-based supervision under the new NAMFISA and FIM Acts.

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