Bank of Namibia reports record N$892m loss

The Bank of Namibia has reported an N$892 million loss for the year 2025, the highest ever loss in the central bank’s history, and has declared a mere N$200 million.

This is less than what the Ministry of Finance has budgeted as a potential inflow of N$400 million.

Though mainly attributable to unrealised foreign losses, the bank’s operating profit has also dropped from N$1 billion reported in 2024 to N$569 million, signalling that the bank’s operations did not yield decent earnings though costs increased to N$849 million.

The loss relates to the period when former governor Johannes !Gawaxab was in charge, tainting the legacy the bank celebrated in his honour in December last year when he left.

Current central bank governor Ebson Uanguta, in the annual results released yesterday, said the redemption of the Eurobond and the weakening of the United States (US) dollar contributed to the loss.

Another loss in value attributed to the Eurobond is the asset decline from N$71 billion in 2024 to N$62 billion in 2025.

“This reduction is largely attributable to the redemption of Eurobonds and the strengthening of the Namibia dollar against the US dollar,” says Uanguta.

Despite this, a dividend of N$200 million will be distributed to the government. This is another decline from the N$720 million declared in the previous financial year.

The bank was still able to pay a N$200 million dividend because its reported loss was driven by technical currency fluctuations on paper, while its actual day-to-day operations remained profitable enough to share earnings with the government.

Uanguta says for 2026 he will be focusing on strengthening resilience and sharpening institutional agility, guided by the theme ‘Marching with a clear purpose, while aligning the central bank for the new economy’.

The 2025 financial year saw a 5.9% increase in the currency in circulation compared to 2024. There was N$5.9 billion worth of notes and coins in circulation by the end of the year.

The bank had a N$62 billion asset base at the end of the 2025 financial year, which was funded in part by deposits of N$44 billion.

Investments held by the bank at the end of the year were at N$50.2 billion, making it the biggest asset.

A large portion of these financial assets are in South Africa – N$33.4 billion. Approximately N$25.4 billion is held in other economies, including the US and Europe.

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