Namibia has made notable progress in clearing its financial regulatory landscape and is now fast approaching the termination of its grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Exiting the FATF grey list would mark a major economic and reputational victory for Namibia, restoring full international confidence in its financial system and easing scrutiny from global banks and investors.
The grey list, on which Namibia was unceremoniously placed in February 2024, is a global watchlist for countries that have been identified as having strategic deficiencies for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
Namibia’s final hurdle in exiting the grey list will depend if the country’s officials can show a sustained increase in the number of money-laundering investigations and prosecutions, as well as show that competent authorities can consistently identify and investigate terrorist financing activities.
According to the FATF’s latest review, progress on these two remaining targets is already partially achieved
With the FATF acknowledging its “commendable national effort,” Namibia is now poised to become one of the few countries in recent years to sustainably exit the grey list within just two years, a feat many others have taken far longer to achieve.
The FATF Plenary, which convened this week in Paris, officially adopted Namibia’s third progress report, applauding the country for addressing 11 of 13 strategic deficiencies identified when it was grey listed in February 2024.
In a strong endorsement, the FATF noted Namibia’s “strong political commitment and expeditious remediation efforts”, highlighting that most corrective actions were completed within or even ahead of agreed timelines.
The achievement follows a concerted national effort spearheaded by the Cabinet of the Republic of Namibia and coordinated through the National Coordination Committee, which includes multiple ministries, law enforcement agencies, and financial regulators.
Namibia submitted its third progress report to the FATF Africa Joint Group in July 2025, which was formally adopted by the FATF Plenary on 24 October 2025.
Of the 13 identified strategic deficiencies, only two remain, increasing investigations and prosecutions of money laundering, and enhanced detection of terrorist financing activities. These have been partially addressed and are expected to be completed by May 2026.
With this progress, Namibia aligns itself with the wider African resolve to strengthen Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks. This effort is seen as critical in protecting Africa’s financial systems from abuse by criminals, corrupt officials, and terror networks.
In this regard, government has aligned itself with the continental and regional resolve in strengthening Namibia’s AML/CFT frameworks to effectively combat financial crimes and illicit financial flows.
The FATF’s recognition of Namibia’s progress aligns with the newly launched National Development Plan 6 (NDP6), which targets a reduction of illicit financial flows from 9% of GDP in 2024 to 5% by 2030.
Authorities say the strengthened AML/CFT framework forms a key pillar in this effort, laying a “firm foundation” for sustainable economic growth and resilience.
Meanwhile, some of Namibia’s financial sector’s key milestones for the country to be removed from the grey list include upgrading the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), strengthening Beneficial Ownership Transparency, enhanced law enforcement capacity and risk-based supervision.