Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
As of the end of 2025, only 45.3% of the 242,417 registered entities have declared their beneficial owners as required by law, an increase from 33% in 2024.
The Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) shared this update during a media engagement this week.
Since 2023, the Beneficial Ownership (BO) declaration has been made it a legal requirement for all enterprises to reflect who benefits financially from the company’s proceeds. The need to file the BO has been enhanced by high-profile cases such as the Fishrot case, which formed part of why Namibia was greylisted.
The country’s greylisting was mostly as a result of weak detection and prevention systems of financial crimes. This led to the proposal of various remedies to bridge policy gaps and the amendments of about 13 laws, with some of them affecting business registration – one of which is implemented by BIPA.
Thus, BIPA now collects and stores updated beneficiary information on members, directors, shareholders or any other forms of beneficial owners of a company or close corporation.
Currently, no registration of new businesses is processed without submitting a complete and accurate BO declaration form. According to BIPA, compliance obligations are not administrative formalities, they are essential to maintaining assurance and legal standing in the Namibian economy.
“This is not just a regulatory issue, it is a national governance concern, a market assurance concern, and a business risk,” the regulator noted.
BIPA also stated that it is an economic enabler, enabling all entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors alike to trade in a transparent, stable, and compliant market.
Over 13 000 new business entities were registered by the end of 2025, expanding the business register to 242,473 registered entities. Youth enterprises led business registration with a 6% increase in registrations from the 20-34 age group.
Another factor influencing rising business registration, according to BIPA, is the increased economic activity in procurement and tender matters, which has encouraged entrepreneurs to formalise their businesses to remain competitive and eligible.
In terms of the Intellectual Property Rights register, it has expanded to 105,272 active rights, with 1,887 new intellectual property applications recorded. Trademark applications continued to dominate, comprising 73.2% of the total filings, while the remaining 26.8% were patents, industrial designs, and copyrights.
BIPA has also vowed to prioritise enhancing regulatory efficiency and modernisation, placing emphasis on efforts to improve business compliance with BO declaration and annual duties.
The Authority added that it would carefully align its mandate with the government’s broader economic agenda and national development plans, which prioritise economic diversification, job creation, and increased investment in various sectors.
erastus@thevillager.com.na
