By: Hertha Ekandjo
The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) has recorded a 4.2% decrease in its total assets for the 2022/2023 financial year.
Namfisa`s assets decreased by N$13.5 million from N$318.1 to N$304.6 million as at 31 March 2023.
This decrease is the result of a total comprehensive deficit of N$8.9 million plus a decrease in liabilities of N$4.5 million.
The Institution`s 2023 annual report has also indicated that the decrease in liabilities results mainly from a decrease in the long-term Lease Liability of N$12.7 million (34%) to N$25.2 million as at 31 March 2023.
According to Namfisa`s Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Matomola during the period under review, the non-bank financial sector remained robust.
“The Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) assets contracted by 1.2 percent to N$366.2 billion during the 2022 year, due largely to the poor market performance of equity markets in Namibia and abroad,” said the CEO.
Matomola added that regardless, the non-bank sector remained solvent and is expected to continue as such in the short-to-medium term.
The Group’s total income for the year ending 31 March 2023 amounted to N$246.7 million and expenditure totalled N$260.6 million.
Other comprehensive income amounted to N$5 million. The total comprehensive deficit for the year amounted to N$8.9 million, compared with a budgeted deficit of N$22.8 million.
The annual report mentioned that during the review period, levy income amounted to N$228.9 million. This represents an increase of N$0.2 million (0.09 %), compared with the levy income recorded for the previous financial year.
The increase in levy income indicates that the NBFIs remained financially stable, sound and resilient, despite the challenging economic environment.
The Group incurred a total expenditure of N$260.6 million during the review period. This constitutes a N$10.8 million (4.3 percent) increase, compared with the previous financial year’s total expenditure.
As a regulator, Namfisa is highly reliant on its human resources. Consequently, staff costs make up the largest share which is 73% of the total expenditure.
Staff costs increased by 4.8 percent to N$191.2 million, compared with the previous financial year.
According to the annual report, inspection and enforcement costs decreased by N$6 million (-93.8 %), compared with the previous financial year.
“This decrease was driven by fewer triggered inspections and enforcement activities during the review period. A further contributor to the increase in total expenses was the increase in depreciation on the Right-of-Use Asset for the office lease,” the report read.
During the current financial year, Namfisa reported a fair value loss on the property of N$2.32 million.
The loss had to be recognised through the profit and loss as an expense being the value by which the Revaluation surplus in reserves was exceeded
Looking into short-term insurance issued by the institution, the total number of short-term insurance industry participants increased by 12.4 percent to 2,476 as at 31 December 2022.
The participants consisted mainly of brokers and agents, with only 14 insurers and one active registered reinsurer in Namibia.
PAYMENT TO COMPLAINTS
On account of the Authority’s intervention, the total amount paid to complainants decreased significantly by 52.1 percent to N$5.6 million as at 31 December 2022, compared with 2021.This amount was paid out to 149 complainants.
The highest amount, totalling N$2.6 million, was recovered from the long-term insurance industry, followed by N$1.5 million from the pension fund industry.
A total of N$1.2 million was received from the long-term insurance industry, N$270,041 from the microlending and credit agreement industry, and N$40,806 from the medical aid funds industry.
