IJG pitches mobile savings

A simple mobile-phone service could allow low-income Namibians to invest small amounts in regulated funds, opening up an investment industry that remains inaccessible to many.

The proposal was outlined by Andri Ntema, managing director of wealth and trust units at IJG Investment Managers, at the 2026 FinTech Square conference in Windhoek last week.

Using the example of “Ndapandula”, a low-paid worker, Ntema said minimum investment requirements, lengthy application forms and documentation requirements effectively exclude people on low incomes who lack formal proof of residence or bank statements.

“Our research says about 54.1% of Namibians aged 15 plus make an earning of less than $2,000 a month ... My money market at IJG is a thousand dollars minimum monthly or a $10,000 lump sum. I have already excluded Ndapandula,” he said.

Ntema argued that the problem was not that poorer Namibians did not save, but that their savings often took place informally and outside regulated financial products.

“There are deposits and savings that are happening. They might be formal, they might be informal,” he said, referring to community savings groups and stokvels.

“How do we use FinTech to digitise those stock sales so that they get in the regulated rail and we protect those consumers?”

The proposed solution is a USSD code that users of basic mobile phones could dial to access a menu of savings and investment options, receive financial education in plain language and request a call from an adviser.

“A regulated fund should be one dial away on the phone that Namibians already own,” Ntema said.

He said research indicated that about one in three Namibians used a basic mobile phone without applications or Wi-Fi, relying instead on USSD codes and text messages.

However, he stressed that the proposed USSD savings service does not yet exist.

“It’s a prototype that I designed with my team to create a sort of engagement to illustrate how we can create access for you and Dapandula who do not have a smartphone,” Ntema explained.

“To be honest, there is no shared savings channel or code that exists.”

Ntema pointed to examples elsewhere in Africa, including Kenya’s M-Pesa platform, where investment products can be accessed through mobile phones.

“There’s a ZD money market fund within the Mpesa platform where 48% of Unitrust investors in Kenya already invested in ZD through this type of phone,” he said.

“If it can be done in Kenya, why can’t it be done in Namibia?”

He called on the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA), the Bank of Namibia and the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) to work with fund managers and fintech companies to test basic-phone savings products in a regulatory sandbox.

“So my request, my ask to the regulator is to let the licenced fund managers test savings on basic funds inside the sandbox,” Ntema said.

Ntema also highlighted unresolved issues, including the lack of a national digital identity or know-your-customer (KYC) system and uncertainty surrounding the status of money agents under the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA).

“There is no national EID or KYC identity at the moment,” he said.

The proposal forms part of a broader call for the next regulatory innovation cohort to focus on savings. Ntema suggested that industry participants could reconvene by the end of the first quarter of 2027 to refine the concept.

“The next payday, Ndapandula should be able to keep $20 of her own money in a regulated fund. We need to ensure that Ndapandula is also included in the conversation of wealth creation and financial emancipation in our lifetime.”

– irene-mari@nmh-hub.com.na