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Business Reporter THE Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted the third Progress Report of Namibia at its plenary held this week in Paris, France, with the country completing the majority of the strategic deficiencies within set timelines in an attempt to exit the grey list of countries that are at high risk of terrorist funding and money laundering due to systemic loopholes. Bryan Eiseb, the Director of the Financial Intelligence Centre, explained that Namibia was lauded for the strong political commitment and expeditious way the country has so far remediated 11 out of the 13 strategic deficiencies set out in its Action Plan. “In July 2025, Namibia submitted its third compulsory Progress Report to the FATF Africa Joint Group. The Progress Report was subsequently and procedurally adopted by the FATF Plenary on 24 October 2025. At the time Namibia was grey-listed on 23 February 2024, the Action Plan contained 13 strategic deficiencies, of which the country has now remediated 11. The remaining two strategic deficiencies have already been partially addressed and now need to be completed before May 2026. The strategic deficiencies that still need to be addressed relate to a sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions of money laundering and the ability of competent authorities to identify and investigate terrorist financing activities,” Eiseb said. He added that the significant progress in remediating the 11 strategic deficiencies has all been achieved within the set timelines contained in the Action Plan, or in some cases, even before such timelines. “With this remarkable progress, the Government of the Republic of Namibia aligns itself with the continental and regional resolve to strengthen our AML/CFT frameworks to effectively combat financial crimes and illicit financial flows. The recently launched NDP 6 targets the reduction of illicit financial flows from 9% in 2024 to 5% of Gross Domestic Product in 2030 under Pillar 1, which relates to economic growth, transformation, and resilience. The efforts and progress made in relation to the remediation of the Action Plan and the strengthening of our national AML framework will lay a firm foundation as part of the collective strategies to achieve this target,” Eiseb said. He concluded that the National Coordination Committee, comprising various offices, ministries, and agencies, remains committed to ensuring that Namibia exits the FATF grey list.
