Focusing on financial access

JUST over half the adult population of Namibia is ‘financially included’ – meaning that they use the banks’ services and products – a survey conducted by the Bank of Namibia (BoN) and FinMark Trust has revealed.

During a presentation of the research results by Christiaan Keulder yesterday, it was established that there are still great differences in financial access within the country. The survey showed that 54,8 per cent is financially included, meaning they have a bank account or use some other form of financial product, while 45,2 per cent remained financially excluded.”Access implies a composition of requirements regarding the supply of financial services, such as appropriateness, affordability and availability,” Keulder explained.”As access is strongly shaped by factors such as income, urbanisation and age, special efforts and innovations will be required to redress these differences.”Keulder said Namibia needed a special instrument to collect information on access to financial services, adding that better ways were needed to reel in the unbanked, who are mainly the poor.This study was commissioned not only to review the status of financial access in Namibia, but also to propose indicators to measure progress towards achieving the draft financial services charter commitments.Having taken note of the imbalances in the industry, the financial sector jointly worked on a Financial Sector Charter (FSC).The charter is expected to find ways to redress a number of issues, including access to and affordability of financial services, alternative collateral requirements, increasing local ownership and control in the sector, procurement policies for SMEs, capital outflow and human resources development.A draft financial sector charter was presented to the Government towards the end of last year.The survey showed that 54,8 per cent is financially included, meaning they have a bank account or use some other form of financial product, while 45,2 per cent remained financially excluded.”Access implies a composition of requirements regarding the supply of financial services, such as appropriateness, affordability and availability,” Keulder explained.”As access is strongly shaped by factors such as income, urbanisation and age, special efforts and innovations will be required to redress these differences.”Keulder said Namibia needed a special instrument to collect information on access to financial services, adding that better ways were needed to reel in the unbanked, who are mainly the poor.This study was commissioned not only to review the status of financial access in Namibia, but also to propose indicators to measure progress towards achieving the draft financial services charter commitments.Having taken note of the imbalances in the industry, the financial sector jointly worked on a Financial Sector Charter (FSC).The charter is expected to find ways to redress a number of issues, including access to and affordability of financial services, alternative collateral requirements, increasing local ownership and control in the sector, procurement policies for SMEs, capital outflow and human resources development.A draft financial sector charter was presented to the Government towards the end of last year.