The Development Bank of Namibia plans to set up a Private Equity Fund with one of the local financial services group, CEO David Nuyoma has disclosed to the Economist. “This has already been approved by the board and we are just waiting to sign a number of agreements,” Nuyoma said this week in an exclusive interview.

He said the bank has opted to launch the fund with the unnamed financial services group to bring in skills required to manage the fund.
The fund is expected to be launched soon, Nuyoma added.
“There is so much to do in this country. That is why foreign investors come in and identify projects us Namibians don’t think about,” he said.
The Economist understands that it is likely that the development bank is setting up the fund to tap into an estimated N$5 billion of pension and life monies expected to flow into unlisted companies following the promulgation of the first changes to the Domestic Asset Requirements.
Pension funds and life insurance companies will now have to find suitable investments for 5% of their assets and aggregate liabilities, respectively, in unlisted companies.