By Michel Haoses.
The Deputy Chief Executive of Prudential Supervision at the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA), Erna Motinga, commended Namibia’s progress in successfully remediating all 13 Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks.
She emphasised this while speaking at the launch of the 2026 Financial Stability Report on Friday 30 April 2026.
“This is the result of coordinated sustained effort by the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Namibia, NAMFISA, the financial intelligence sector, law enforcement agencies and the private financial sector. It is a testament to what Namibia can achieve when institutions unite around a common purpose,” she said.
The country was grey listed in 2024 by the Financial Action Task Force (FAFT) because of 13 deficiencies in its AML/CFT. Namibia remediated all of its strategic deficiencies, ahead of the May 2026 deadline, and is now required to undergo an on-site assessment. The results of the assessment will be presented by the reviewers at the next FAFT Plenary meeting scheduled for June.
“The on-site assessment, ladies and gentlemen, is not a conclusion, it is the next step,” she said.
The AML/CFT frameworks included the strengthening of its AML/CFT risk-based supervision by enhancing the human and resource capacities, and conducting off-site and onsite assessments informed by supervisory risk assessment tools.
The country also increased the filing of beneficial ownership information of legal persons and arrangements as well as the application of remedial actions and/or effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions against breaches of compliance with beneficial ownership obligations and AML/CFT obligations.
It enhanced its preventive measures through inspections and outreach to ensure that financial institutions and other designated businesses apply enhanced due diligence measures as well as targeted financial sanctions related to Terrorism Financing and Proliferation Financing without delay.
In addition, Namibia has improved the Financial Intelligence Centre’s (FIC) operational and strategic analysis with human and financial resources and training. It further enhanced the cooperation between the Centre and law enforcement agencies for the use and integration of financial intelligence investigations.
Authorities now have enhanced operational capabilities in money laundering and terrorism financing investigations as well as prosecutions, since they where provided with adequate resources and targeted training. The Centre approved the amended National Counter Terrorism Strategy.
“Namibia must now demonstrate that the reforms embedded in policy documents are equally embedded in practice. The credibility of our institutions and the trust that international counterparts and investors face in them depends on how we operationalise those,” she added.
