Nampost has received a fresh A $3.3 million technical assistance fund from Agence Française de Développement to expand credit and banking services to communities without access to good financial services.
Nampost, a company responsible for postal services in Namibia, first received such funding in 2019.
The French Development Agency is a public financial institution with operations in Africa, Asia, Middle East and other French territories overseas that finances projects to promote economic growth and improve living conditions for many.
The French Agency and the financial subordinate of Namibia Post (NamPost) Limited sealed the agreement in Windhoek, Namibia. The main aim of the partnership is to enhance financial inclusion in the state by enabling credit facilities to people who would not usually qualify for loans in the state via proper financing intermediaries.
“Financial inclusion is important, but large segments of the population have little or no access to financial services. While financial inclusion has increased remarkably in the recent years, SMEs, workers in the informal sector and a large proportion of pensioners remain excluded from the credit,” French Development Agency
The signing was undertaken by NamPost Chief Executive Festus Hangula, who signed on behalf of NamPost Financial Brokers, PostFin, (the subordinate of NamPost dedicated to finance). He was accompanied by PostFin Board Chairman James Cumming and the company’s Chief Executive, Patrick Gardiner.
On the French side, the French Ambassador, HE Sébastien Minot and the Regional Director of Agence Française de Développement for Southern Africa, Bruno Deprince.
The French Development Agency said "that the purpose of the loan was to enhance PostFin’s performance via adequate training, consulting services and international peer-to-peer exchanges with more African microfinance institutions."
"The loan would open them to many benefits, such as participating in a Microfinance training program called Boulder MFT. Thus enabling them to diagnose and implement plans in terms of client protection, identify and adopt financial services to meet the needs of women excluded from any form of financial services and a whole lot of others," the agency concluded.
Namibia in focus
GDP: $12.376 billion compared to France $2.716 trillion in 2019
Population: 2,494,530 compared to France 67,055,854 in 2019
GDP per capita: $4,957 compared to France $40,496 in 2019
