WINDHOEK, June 14 — Namibia has been praised by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for its substantial efforts in addressing strategic deficiencies in its anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing framework.
According to a statement on Friday, the positive assessment was released by Bryan Eiseb, director of the Financial Intelligence Center of Namibia, during the FATF Plenary meeting. In just over 13 months since being grey-listed on Feb. 23, 2024, Namibia has reportedly remedied eight of its initial 13 strategic deficiencies.
“The country remains with five action items that need to be remediated by May 2026,” he said. Eiseb confirmed that Namibia recently submitted its second compulsory progress report to the FATF Africa Joint Group, which has now recommended the progress for adoption at the Plenary.
Despite the significant progress made in addressing the recommendations in the FATF Action Plan, Eiseb said the Council of the European Union (EU) added Namibia to its list of high-risk jurisdictions on Tuesday.
“The listing of Namibia was expected as it is a normal practice for the EU to align its list to that of the FATF grey list, although the EU had delayed placing Namibia on this list last year,” he added.
Meanwhile, Eiseb said it is important to note that the EU listing does not undo the exceptional progress that Namibia is making in addressing the FATF Action Plan.
“The EU listing requires banks and other financial institutions in the EU to exercise heightened vigilance when dealing with Namibian financial institutions and businesses.
Namibian entities and stakeholders are cautioned that this measure may cause increased compliance requirements and potentially impact transactional costs,” he concluded.
The FATF is an intergovernmental body that sets international standards to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. (Xinhua)
