The Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX) is preparing to change the ownership of the country’s main stock exchange after members voted to turn it into a company with share capital last week.
For decades, the NSX operated as a private association of rights holders, where only those who traded on the exchange had a say in its management.
The approved demutualisation will now separate ownership of the NSX from membership of the exchange, meaning owning a stake in the exchange will no longer be tied to being a member with trading rights.
Under its current structure, the NSX membership consists of 43 founder members holding 43 rights with a N$430 000 contribution and six stockbroking members holding 35 rights with a N$1.8 million contribution for a total of 78 rights in circulation, according to its 2025 annual report.
The demutualisation will replace this rights-based structure with share ownership.
The NSX handled N$9.28 billion in capital-market trades during 2025, a 38% increase from the previous year, while the total market capitalisation of securities listed on the exchange reached N$2.81 trillion.
The exchange had 61 listings at the end of the year, including 12 locally listed companies, 28 dual-listed companies, 11 exchange-traded funds and 10 exchange-traded notes.
The exchange recorded no delistings during 2025, while equity listings increased from 58 to 61, helped by 10 new exchange-traded notes linked to major US technology companies.
NSX chief executive Tiaan Bazuin says the latest vote was an important step in a process that had been under development for several years.
“Today’s approval is an important step forward in a process that has been carefully developed over a number of years,” Bazuin says.
He says the change would give the exchange an ownership and governance structure better suited to its role as a modern securities market.
The change has also become a legal requirement following the commencement of the Financial Institutions and Markets Act on 1 May this year.
Members approved the conversion of the NSX into a company with share capital, the allotment of shares to its initial shareholders, as well as new founding documents and the framework for implementing the change.
The restructuring is expected to give the exchange greater flexibility to raise capital for investments such as technology and future expansion.
However, the vote does not mean the NSX has completed its transformation or that its shares are now available for members of the public to buy.
The exchange still has to meet regulatory requirements set by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority.
These include a public-notice and inspection process before the NSX can submit its formal application for approval.
The NSX says its existing assets, liabilities, contracts, employees and regulatory responsibilities will remain with the institution as it moves into the new structure.
The restructuring will also introduce rules aimed at preventing one shareholder or group of shareholders from gaining excessive influence over the exchange.
