Preliminary indications reveal that Namibia passed the technical compliance test to avoid being greylisted and made progress in five out of the 11 immediate outcomes on the effectiveness test. This was shared on Tuesday by finance and public enterprises minister, Iipumbu Shiimi.
“Notably, 59 out of 72 action items were successfully addressed, with only 13 remaining. As a result of the few remaining action items, Namibia may be included on the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring,” said Shiimi on Tuesday in a statement.
A country that is greylisted is an indication the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international watchdog, has identified strategic deficiencies in applicable systems to counter financial crimes. Greylisting means a country is under increased monitoring due to a lack of policies and procedures to deal with anti-money laundering (AML), combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT), and proliferation financing (CPF) framework.
Shiimi noted that Namibia’s greylisting will be confirmed once the FATF International Cooperation Review Group meeting, scheduled to take place in the next few days, is concluded.
The minister was sharing developments on Namibia’s ongoing efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
“Government is dedicated to addressing the remaining action items. Strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks remains paramount, not only to combat financial crimes but also to bolster national development initiatives,” Shiimi explained.
Bank of Namibia governor Johannes !Gawaxab last year cautioned relevant Namibian entities to work together, as greylisting could be harmful to the economy. He noted that greylisting is preventable if all offices involved play their part.
“Greylisting is not good for the country because it will impact trade, lead to the increased risk premium of Namibia, borrowing costs are going to increase, and cross-border transaction costs will increase and limit the country’s ability to do business effectively. It is detrimental to our capacity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI),” the governor emphasised at the time.
Namibia, in a bid to avoid greylisting, had passed four new laws and amended nine existing laws by August 2023.