Windhoek: Namibia has successfully addressed all 13 strategic deficiencies identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), completing its required action plan ahead of the May 2026 deadline. Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Erna Motinga, announced the development during the launch of the April 2026 Financial Stability Report (FSR) in Windhoek on Thursday.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Motinga stated that following the FATF plenary held in Mexico City in February 2026, it was determined that Namibia had substantially completed the tasks set out when the country was grey-listed in February 2024. "Namibia now awaits an on-site assessment to verify the effective implementation of its Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) reforms," she said. Motinga emphasised that the next phase is a test of whether the reforms recorded in policy documents are being operationalised in practice.
She noted that the credibility of national institutions and the trust of international investors depend on the successful execution of these frameworks. The FSR also identified emerging technological threats as a primary concern for 2026. Motinga flagged cyber risk as having a high probability of materialising this year, noting that digitisation and third-party vulnerabilities have made the financial system a target for daily assaults. She stated that cyber resilience must be treated as a strategic priority by the executives and boards of all financial institutions.
Bank of Namibia Deputy Governor, Leonie Dunn, provided further details on technological vulnerabilities, specifically 'quantum risk.' This refers to the potential for advanced computing to compromise current encryption and data integrity. Dunn revealed that the expected timeline for this risk to materialise has been adjusted downwards from 2035 to 2027. This acceleration is attributed to the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. "To address these vulnerabilities, the Financial Sector Cyber, Operational Resilience and Fraud Mitigation Council has taken proactive measures," she said.
Dunn indicated that the regulators are working toward real-time data harvesting to detect system vulnerabilities at an early stage. She also announced that another milestone regarding the protection of the financial system against fraud would be shared with the public in June 2026.