Members of Parliament have called on the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to step up efforts to bring global digital payment platforms such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay to the country, saying access to these services is crucial to enable young Namibians to earn income from international clients.
The call was made during a meeting between BoN Governor Johannes !Gawaxab and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economy and Industry, Public Administration and Planning, held on Tuesday, 24 June.
The engagement marked the Governor’s first appearance before the new Standing Committee of the 8th Parliament, in line with Section 68 of the BoN Act of 2020, which requires an annual report to Parliament on the state of the economy and the Bank’s operations.
“Put in place platforms that will enable young people to receive payments from outside when they sell their creative content,” the Committee said.
Governor !Gawaxab told MPs that there are no legal barriers preventing these platforms from operating in Namibia, and that their absence was largely due to commercial decisions taken by the service providers themselves.
“The central bank, however, indicated that they are working together with MICT to attract service providers of platforms such as PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay to set up in Namibia,” the parliamentary Committee said.
!Gawaxab’s comments follow similar assurances made earlier this year by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), which confirmed it is actively working to make digital payment services, including YouTube monetisation and PayPal, available to Namibians.
The push to enable access to international payment platforms is part of broader efforts to integrate local creatives and digital entrepreneurs into the global economy by removing key barriers that have restricted online earnings.
