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

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

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

owned by . Its main commercial activity is to provide

microfinancing Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

services.

History

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

microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

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 typically are describ ...

population seeking to develop income generation activities. This project initially started in Ohangwena Region and moved to

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society (the FMS) in 1890. In 1914, it became ...

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 places. Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...

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 Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral co ...

in 2007. Upon creation of the bank, then operating as ''FIDES Bank Namibia'', the portfolio of loan was transferred to the new institution, which developed from then on an MSME portfolio 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 electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private sch ...

in Oshana Region (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 person, 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 statu ...

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

): this activity aims at proposing savings and

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

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 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 markets. Because ...

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 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 aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Ohangw ...

Omusati Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , Omus ...

Oshana 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 ...

and

Oshikoto Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

). It has a network of 4 branches located in

, Oshikango and

. The first

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

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 a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

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

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Development Bank KfW (24.90%); * ' from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(22.45%); and * the

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

-based fund NV (12.60%); * the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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