Financial Service Charter on the way

A MILESTONE was reached on Friday when the financial industry came together to start discussing the thorny issue of implementing a Financial Service Charter (FSC).

The aim of the charter is to allow for previously disadvantaged people to participate in this sector that is dominated and controlled by foreign capital, and also for the industry to regulate itself. This move comes amid repeated calls by the Minister of Finance, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, for a financial service charter in this sector.In her Budget speech, delivered in May, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called for reform in the financial sector.Organised by Old Mutual, the one-day workshop brought together key figures from the financial sector to brainstorm on what is an appropriate FSC for Namibia and how to go about crafting it.Speaking at the event Old Mutual Namibia Chief Executive Officer Johannes !Gawaxab however said the workshop was not merely a response to the call by Government.” I wish to emphasise that it is not merely a response to the call, but a charter is a necessity for us in terms of bringing the previously excluded people into the mainstream of economic development by way of skills development and active particiapation in all economic sectors,” he said.He said the multi-billion dollar financial industry played a significant role in the country’s development and should act towards enhancing economic growth by designing a code of conduct that promotes transformation, provides access to affordable services and products and contributes to an equitable society.!Gawaxab also said a number of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transactions had already been concluded in the absence of a BEE policy and that these deals needed be accomodated in the designing of the financial service charter.He said the industry had taken the first step and would try and incorporate and accommodate divergent and also compteing views, agendas and interests.He said even if sub-sectoral charters – like in the banking sectors- were cuirrently being drafted it was important that the entire financial sector came up with one legislation.”Each sector has a different idea of what the FSC should constitute.I am mindful of the fact that sub-sectoral charters are being drafted.It is my sense that we should leverage the good work done by these sub-sectors and try and accommodate them in the charter that we are crafting,” he said.”It is my understanding that Government would prefer a comprehensive charter including the entire financial services industry, rather than sectoral charters from within the industry.”Delivering her remarks at the workshop, Kuugongelwa-Amad­hila said economic empowerment meant wealth creation and the real gains for both the corporate sector and Namibian society.She said since the private sector had more resources than Government, it was in a much better position to provide affordable financial services.Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called for a well co-ordinated strategy for the upliftment of the economy, with defined goals and targets and that it be implemented vigorously.”We continue to be an exporter of capital, a paradoxical situation for a country of our level of development and one that is a real development concern.The time has, therefore, come for Namibia to take bold steps to address the limitations in the financial sector if our country is not to be left behind other nations in terms of economic development,” she said.This move comes amid repeated calls by the Minister of Finance, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, for a financial service charter in this sector.In her Budget speech, delivered in May, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called for reform in the financial sector.Organised by Old Mutual, the one-day workshop brought together key figures from the financial sector to brainstorm on what is an appropriate FSC for Namibia and how to go about crafting it.Speaking at the event Old Mutual Namibia Chief Executive Officer Johannes !Gawaxab however said the workshop was not merely a response to the call by Government.” I wish to emphasise that it is not merely a response to the call, but a charter is a necessity for us in terms of bringing the previously excluded people into the mainstream of economic development by way of skills development and active particiapation in all economic sectors,” he said.He said the multi-billion dollar financial industry played a significant role in the country’s development and should act towards enhancing economic growth by designing a code of conduct that promotes transformation, provides access to affordable services and products and contributes to an equitable society.!Gawaxab also said a number of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transactions had already been concluded in the absence of a BEE policy and that these deals needed be accomodated in the designing of the financial service charter.He said the industry had taken the first step and would try and incorporate and accommodate divergent and also compteing views, agendas and interests.He said even if sub-sectoral charters – like in the banking sectors- were cuirrently being drafted it was important that the entire financial sector came up with one legislation.”Each sector has a different idea of what the FSC should constitute.I am mindful of the fact that sub-sectoral charters are being drafted.It is my sense that we should leverage the good work done by these sub-sectors and try and accommodate them in the charter that we are crafting,” he said.”It is my understanding that Government would prefer a comprehensive charter including the entire financial services industry, rather than sectoral charters from within the industry.”Delivering her remarks at the workshop, Kuugongelwa-Amad­hila said economic empowerment meant wealth creation and the real gains for both the corporate sector and Namibian society.She said since the private sector had more resources than Government, it was in a much better position to provide affordable financial services.Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called for a well co-ordinated strategy for the upliftment of the economy, with defined goals and targets and that it be implemented vigorously.”We continue to be an exporter of capital, a paradoxical situation for a country of our level of development and one that is a real development concern.The time has, therefore, come for Namibia to take bold steps to address the limitations in the financial sector if our country is not to be left behind other nations in terms of economic development,” she said.