Namibians lean hard on loan sharks

Jo-Maré Duddy WINDHOEKIn 2016, the first year of the ongoing recession, the average payday lender needed N$1 429 from a registered microlender to make ends meet each month. In the second quarter of 2021, the average had risen steeply to N$2 345 – 64% more.The latest data from the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) shows a Namibian payday lenders’ average monthly bailout has ballooned by nearly 150% in the past decade.Payday lenders have to settle their debt in full within a month at interest rates of up to 30%.In the midst of the third Covid-19 wave, a total of 61 269 payday lenders flocked to 387 registered microlenders from March to June.Some of them more than once, as 114 724 loans were granted in the three months under review.That is in stark contrast to the second quarter of 2020 when the pandemic first hit Namibia. Then, only 32 165 ran to microlenders for a total of 73 319 loans, an average amount of N$1 769.Millions in loansTo put the 12 months into perspective: 90% more payday lenders had to get loans, which on average were 33% bigger.At the end of June 2021, payday lenders owed microlenders nearly N$204.8 million in total, about N$124 million or 153% more than June 2020.In the second quarter alone, payday lenders borrowed about N$269.4 million, nearly N$140 million or 108% more than the same three months in 2020.Since the end of June 2020, consumers’ buying power has been eroded by the price monster. Then, overall inflation was 2.1%, overall food inflation was 4.9% and transport inflation slowed to -0.8%.Meanwhile, according to the latest data by the Namibia Statistics Agency, overall inflation in October 2021 was 3.6%, while food inflation stood at 5.4% and transport inflation accelerated to a whopping 10.7%.

Namibians lean hard on loan sharks

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Namibian Sun 2026-06-23

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Namibians lean hard on loan sharks

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Namibian Sun 2026-06-23

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