adminCommercial banks in Namibia may have to sell 25 percent of their equity to local investors by 2025 and should consider trading their shares on the stock exchange, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said in Business Report. Some lenders ‘‘have committed to sell a 40 percent shareholding’’ within the next four years, she said.
The report says the government is implementing a series of changes in the financial industry, including the regulation of credit bureaus, to broaden services and products. SA lenders Standard Bank, FirstRand unit First National Bank, Nedbank and Bank Windhoek are the country’s biggest lenders.
Three foreign banks operating in Zimbabwe have complied with the country’s local ownership law while government talks with other banks on the legislation continue, Indigenisation Minister Francis Nhema is quoted in Business Report as saying.
Under Zimbabwean law, foreign and white-owned companies with assets of more than $500 000 must cede or sell a 51 percent stake to black nationals or the country’s National Economic Empowerment Board.
Foreign banks operating in Zimbabwe include Barclays, Standard Chartered, Stanbic, Nedbank, Ecobank and Bank ABC. Cde Nhema declined to name the banks that have complied with the local ownership laws. — Business Report
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