The Bank of Namibia (BoN) has yet to decide whether it will increase the share of gold in its international reserves beyond the 3% target set for the first phase of its gold accumulation programme.
Deputy Governor Nicholas Mukasa said the central bank will assess its position in the first quarter of 2027, after reaching the initial target, before deciding whether to proceed with a second phase of gold accumulation.
“We want to first of all focus on phase one and then, in the first quarter of next year, we can sit as an institution and decide and say, look, fine, we are now at the 3% target that we wanted for phase one. What do we do now in phase two?” Mukasa said.
The central bank is currently implementing the first phase of the programme through monthly purchases of gold from local mines, with the transactions conducted in Namibia dollars.
Mukasa said the immediate objective is to gradually increase gold holdings until they account for at least 3% of the country’s reserves.
“We want to ensure that at least we have 3% of our reserves denominated in gold, so that’s the plan that we have for phase one, and that is basically in full swing at this stage,” he said.
The programme comes as BoN’s July 2026 international reserves data show official reserve assets of N$58.04 billion, of which gold was valued at N$573.4 million.
This means gold accounted for about 0.99% of official reserve assets at the end of July.
The central bank reported gold holdings of 0.00857352 million fine troy ounces, equivalent to about 8,574 fine troy ounces, valued at a reported price of US$4,046.15 per fine troy ounce.
Based on the July reserve position, increasing gold to 3% of total reserves would raise the value of the central bank’s gold holdings to about N$1.74 billion, assuming the overall reserve position remains unchanged.
This would require about N$1.17 billion in additional gold holdings compared with the N$573.4 million recorded at the end of July.
At the reported July gold price, a 3% allocation would be equivalent to approximately 25,721 fine troy ounces, compared with the current 8,574 fine troy ounces.
This suggests BoN would need to accumulate roughly 17,147 additional fine troy ounces to reach the target, assuming no changes in the gold price or the overall value of reserve assets.
Foreign currency reserves remain the largest component of Namibia’s official reserve assets, standing at N$53.74 billion at the end of July. Securities accounted for N$40.43 billion, while currency and deposits stood at N$13.31 billion.
Mukasa said any decision on the size and scope of a second phase will only be taken after the bank has assessed the outcome of the current programme and reached the 3% target.
