ipumbu shiimi : credit information sharing in namibia welcoming remarks by mr ipumbu shiimi, governor of the bank of namibia, at the launch of the namibia data sharing alliance, bank of namibia, windhoek, 2 march 2015. * * * director of ceremony dr prega ramsamy, ceo of finmark trust mr phillip shiimi, ceo of namfisa mr darrel beghin, executive director, credit provider association of sa mr grant phillips, ceo africa regions, transunion mr frank lenisa, director, compuscan representatives of lending institutions, distinguished invited guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the bank of namibia! it is my singular honour and pleasure to join you this morning at this occasion to mark the launch of the namibia data sharing alliance. as you may recall, on 19 august 2013, i officiated at the credit information sharing workshop held in windhoek organised by finmark trust. the purpose of the workshop was to explore potential approaches and actions that could improve the quality and flow of credit information in namibia for the benefit of credit providers and, ultimately, their consumers. that workshop paved the way for the establishment of namibia data sharing alliance, as a platform for credit information sharing among credit providers in namibia. what we are witnessing today is a beginning of an exciting journey for namibia in terms of credit information sharing. ladies and gentlemen, the launch of the ndsa comes at a time when the bank is in the process of implementing the regulatory framework for credit bureaus. as you may be aware, namibia did not previously have legislation for regulating credit bureaus. that position changed in august 2014 when the credit bureau regulations were gazetted. the regulations are meant to regulate the operations and conduct of credit bureaus, in order to ensure that credit information sharing is carried out within the confines of the law. as part of the provisions of the regulations, credit providers in namibia are now required to provide credit performance information to all registered credit bureaus. the purpose of this provision is to ensure that a complete picture of individual borrowers is obtained, to enable comprehensive affordability assessments to be done with a view to curb over indebtedness of customers. this is in line with the bank ’ s mandate of enhancing and maintaining stability in the financial sector. therefore, the broader objectives of the ndsa and the credit bureau regulations are complimentary in nature. ladies and gentlemen, the rate of a country ’

prefer a weaker exchange rate because you will be competitive in terms of price. on the other hand, if you are mostly an importing country, you should prefer a stronger exchange rate, again on the account of price competitiveness. to my mind, this is a generalized answer, at best, and it leaves out a number of realities. for example a weaker currency is generally associated with expectation of higher inflation. we are also well aware of the danger of inflation and to therefore rely on a weaker exchange rate for price competitiveness may only be beneficial in a very short term. for long term prosperity a country will be better off to rely on its total factor productivity levels. lastly, ladies and gentlemen, i now want to answer the questions i was asked : “ are there economic reasons to celebrate the strong nad? ” my short answer to that question is maybe and maybe not. i thank you.