The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) has selected First Capital Housing Scheme and Kuleni Financial Services to administer its Pension-Backed Home Loan Scheme (PBHLS).
Edwin Tjiramba, GM: Marketing & Stakeholders at GIPF, said the two agents will be onboarded once all required agreements are signed and the approved interest rate , set at the Repo rate plus 2.5% ,is gazetted.
The scheme will allow active GIPF members to use a portion of their pension savings as collateral for home loans.
Tjiramba said the PBHLS is in the final stages of implementation, following government’s formal approval.
“The Fund now awaits the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between itself and the Office of the Prime Minister,” he said.
Finance Minister Ericah Shafudah recently announced the approval in Parliament, describing the scheme as a joint effort between the Ministry of Finance, NAMFISA, GIPF, and the Office of the Prime Minister.
The GIPF Board of Trustees approved the concept in 2016, with regulatory approvals from the Office of the Prime Minister and NAMFISA granted in 2018. The scheme was formally established in 2021.
The Fund said it has spent the past two years sensitising members across the country in preparation for the rollout. Further details will be shared once all agreements are in place.
The scheme differs from the earlier First Capital Housing Fund, launched in 2011, which limited property acquisitions to urban areas. Under the new PBHLS, members will be able to acquire homes in rural areas as well.
GIPF is a statutory pension fund that provides guaranteed pension and related benefits to employees of participating public-sector employers in Namibia.
