Namibia recorded several major economic milestones over the past 12 months, with the country successfully exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist, repaying its International Monetary Fund (IMF) emergency loan, and redeeming its largest-ever Eurobond.

The country was removed from the task force’s greylist last week after addressing all 13 strategic shortcomings identified in its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing frameworks.

The Paris-based financial crime watchdog confirmed Namibia’s removal during a meeting in Paris last week, following two years of increased monitoring.

Namibia was placed on the greylist in February 2024 and had been given until May this year to address the identified weaknesses.

Minister of finance Ericah Shafudah says the government has prioritised the reforms required to strengthen the country’s financial integrity framework.

“From the outset, Namibia accorded the highest level of political commitment to addressing these strategic deficiencies,” she says.

Namibia also concluded its participation in the IMF’s rapid financing instrument programme after fully repaying a N$3.9 billion emergency loan secured during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final repayment was made on 15 April, bringing the country’s outstanding balance under the facility to zero.

The facility, equivalent to N$23 million at the time of approval in April 2021, was obtained to support government financing needs during a period of economic uncertainty.

The funds helped address fiscal pressures caused by reduced revenues, increased expenditure demands and the broader economic impact of the pandemic.

Former finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi previously said the financing supported the government’s response to the health crisis, including vaccine procurement and the national vaccination programme.

Another milestone was Namibia’s successful redemption of its US$750 million (about N$14.3 billion) Eurobond issued in 2015.

The repayment represented the largest single debt maturity in the country’s history and was completed through a combination of government savings and domestic financing.

The Ministry of Finance says a sinking fund accumulated US$444 million (around N$8.4 billion) towards settling the bond, while the remaining US$306 million (about N$5.9 billion) was financed through local commercial banks.

Standard Bank Namibia provided N$3 billion, FNB Namibia contributed N$1.5 billion, while Bank Windhoek, together with Absa, provided a further N$1.5 billion.

Following the Eurobond repayment, Namibia’s debt composition shifted further towards domestic borrowing, with domestic debt becoming the larger share of government obligations.

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