FinScope Africa :: Namibia

The FinMark Trust launched FinScope™ as a pilot project in Namibia in 2003, to begin the process of: understanding usage of and need for financial services; measuring effective access to financial services; identifying market segments; and assessing opportunities for expansion of financial services.

In 2004, FinMark Trust funded a comprehensive national household survey of the Namibian adult population in partnership with Bank Windhoek. Information was collected in 1,200 face-to-face interviews with people aged 16 and over. The findings were weighted to make the outcome nationally representative of the adult population of just over one million.

FinScope^TM Namibia 2007 was conducted by the Namibian market research firm Research Facilitation Services on behalf of FinMark Trust and syndicate members. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among 1,200 Namibians aged 16 years and older. The 2007 Namibian syndicate members are Bank of Namibia, Bank Windhoek, Capricorn Investment Holdings, First National Bank Namibia, Nedbank Namibia, Old Mutual Namibia, Namfisa and Sanlam Namibia.

The survey tracks the changing landscape of access to financial services across all the main product categories - transaction banking, savings, credit and insurance. It highlights the barriers poor people encounter when they attempt to gain access to financial services and assists policy makers in both the public and private sector to remove or reduce the barriers.