Namibia has advanced its efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation by presenting its first compulsory report to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Joint Group for Africa.
The report, delivered during the FATF Joint Group meeting held in Windhoek from January 6 to 11, 2025, represents a critical milestone in the country’s commitment to aligning with international financial compliance standards.
Bryan Eiseb, Director of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), underscored the importance of this step, emphasizing Namibia’s proactive engagement with assessors to address any concerns.
“Namibia presented its first compulsory report at the meeting and engaged with the assessors of the Joint Group to clarify any issues related to the report. Following this engagement, the Joint Group will evaluate Namibia’s overall progress in addressing the strategic deficiencies outlined in our Action Plan,” Eiseb said.
The Joint Group’s assessment will be submitted to the FATF for consideration and adoption in February 2025.
The Windhoek meeting brought together high-level delegations from 11 African nations, FATF representatives, international partners, and regional bodies, including the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), of which Namibia is a founding member.
Eiseb highlighted that African countries currently on the FATF’s “grey list” provided updates on their progress in addressing deficiencies. Namibia’s delegation included representatives from several key agencies, including the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Namibian Police, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Business and Intellectual Property Authority, the Namibia Revenue Agency, the Master of the High Court, and the Bank of Namibia.
“The decision by, and subsequent approval of, Namibia to host this important meeting signals a strong resolve towards ensuring that the anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing regime in the country is aligned to international standards,” Eiseb said.
Namibia was added to the FATF grey list in February 2024. In response, the country committed to a schedule of compulsory reporting every six months, beginning in November 2024 and concluding in May 2026.
Eiseb expressed optimism about Namibia’s potential to exit the grey list ahead of schedule by demonstrating effective implementation of its action plan.
“The compulsory reporting ends in May 2026 and is divided into six-month cycles. Namibia will have to demonstrate that it has largely addressed the remaining 13 action items as set out in the timelines of the Action Plan,” he explained.
