By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Erastus
Most of the country’s N$289.9 billion capital that is deployed domestically through investment managers is invested in listed equities (shares) and debt instruments as of 31 March 2025, according to the Namfisa 2025 First Quarter report, which was released this week.
This has been the trend for the past years. The money being managed by investment managers is the country’s savings through pension funds, insurance, unit trusts, etc.
The investment managers decide what assets and where in the world they will deploy the capital.
Moreover, the deployment of capital has an impact on the country’s economic growth and development as it funds projects and entrepreneurial ventures if accessible.
According to the first 3 months of 2025, in terms of asset allocation, the majority of the local savings remained invested in listed equities, unit trust schemes, and listed debt.
These three assets account for 31.2%, 27.9%, and 24%, respectively of the total assets under management.
Listed equities are shares of companies that are trading publicly on the Namibian Stock Exchange.
The Namfisa report shows that listed equity investments rose by 2.9% quarter-on-quarter and by 7.9% year-on-year to N$90.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
A unit trust is an investment facility that pools capital from various investors and is invested in different assets. They are mostly hosted by commercial banks and investment managers.
Investments in unit trust schemes increased by 2.8% quarter-on-quarter and surged by 27.9% year-on-year to N$80.7 billion.
Listed debt consists of corporate and public bonds that are listed/accessed through the Namibian Stock Exchange.
Listed debt grew by 2.4% quarter-on-quarter and by 19.3% year-on-year to N$69.6 billion.
The assets under management by geographic allocation as of 31 March 2025 indicate that
Namibian-domiciled assets accounted for 52.1% of the total assets under management.
Investments in the Common Monetary Area (CMA), mostly in South Africa, represented 31.4%, and offshore/outside Africa investments represented 16.3%, and the remaining 0.2% was allocated to other African markets.
According to Namfisa, the deployment of domestic capital in the local economy grew by 2.2% quarter on quarter and by 15.2 percent year on year to N$151.1 billion.
Similarly, investments in the CMA rose by 4.2% quarter-on-quarter and by 6.7% year-on-year, reaching N$90.9 billion at the end of the review period.
Savings through pension funds remained the largest source of funds for investment managers’ assets under management, accounting for 41.4% of the total assets, an increase of 0.4%, and reaching N$120.0 billion as at 31 March 2025.
Unit trust schemes and long-term insurers contributed 35.4% and 12.7%, respectively. The remaining 10.5% was sourced from natural persons, short-term insurers, medical aid funds, companies, and other entities. erastus@thevillager.com.na
