Trustco Bank Namibia limited, formerly the FIDES Bank Namibia, is a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

owned by . Its main commercial activity is to provide

microfinancing Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

services.

History

The bank was built after a pilot project called '. This project developed

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

activities from 2002 to 2010, targeting specifically

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

population seeking to develop income generation activities. This project initially started in

Ohangwena Region Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi as well as the self-governed village of Okongo and the proclaimed settlements Ongha, Ongenga and O ...

and moved to Ondangwa in 2005,

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest cities both by population and as an economic center. It had a population of 58,656 people in 2023. Oshakati was founded i ...

in 2006 and

Outapi Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also Outapi or Uutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia near the border with Angola, situated northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of the Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electo ...

in 2007. Upon creation of the bank, then operating as ''FIDES Bank Namibia'', the

portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a ...

of loan was transferred to the new institution, which developed from then on an MSME

as well. The bank received its provisional banking license on 4 August 2009. and its permanent license on 1 February 2010.

Activity

The institution has its headquarters located in

Ongwediva Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva Constituency, Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 33,777 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven ...

Oshana Region Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia; its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the c ...

(North-Central part of

). It was one of five commercial banks in 2009 licensed to operate in the country by the Bank of Namibia (the national banking regulator) and the first

bank created in the country since

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. Trustco Bank Namibia is active in two banking segments: * income generation activities financing (

): this activity aims at proposing

saving Saving is income not spent, or deferred Consumption (economics), consumption. In economics, a broader definition is any income not used for immediate consumption. Saving also involves reducing expenditures, such as recurring Cost, costs. Methods ...

s and

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

s products to a clientele mainly located in

areas of the country. The development of this activity is based on a group methodology and deals with populations almost exclusively excluded from the formal Namibian banking system. * Micro, small and medium-size enterprises financing: this activity targets semi-formalized and formalized businesses, usually not approached by traditional

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s. At the end of 2012, FIDES Bank Namibia had a client base of approximately people and little above

groups, borrowing on average 216 euros.

Geographical Presence and Branch Network

, FIDES Bank Namibia is present in the four 'O' regions of Northern-Central

( Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto). It has a network of 4 branches located in Ondangwa,

Oshikango Oshikango is a former village in northern Namibia and since 2004 part of the town of Helao Nafidi, although it still maintained its own village council for a number of years. ''Oshikango'' is still the name of the border post with Angola and the ...

and

. The first

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

was opened in

in April 2010. A new branch is about to open in the Khomas region, in Katutura.

Ownership

FIDES Bank Namibia was owned at the time of its inception by four

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

s: * Swiss Microfinance Holding (30.05%); *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Development Bank KfW (24.90%); * ' from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(22.45%); and * the

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

-based fund NV (12.60%); * the French

cooperative bank Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world. Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carr ...

Crédit Coopératif (10.00% - since late 2011). In 2014 the bank was acquired by Trustco Group Holdings and renamed to Trustco Bank Namibia, Ltd.

References

External links