WINDHOEK: Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila yesterday launched the 10-year Namibia Financial Sector Strategy (2011-2021) aimed to restructure and develop the Namibian financial sector in the country.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the Strategy provides a sector development blueprint which will ensure its inclusiveness, competitiveness and resilience.

She stressed that the Strategy enlists a suite of strategic actions aimed at addressing structural weaknesses in the sector, and unlocking the full potential of the financial sector in respect of its contribution to economic development.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said it is on account of the financial stability of Namibia’s financial system that the country’s economy withstood the adverse impacts of the global financial and economic crises.

However, the manifest financial stability disguises historical structural weaknesses, said.

She stressed that a dichotomy of a multi-billion dollar industry, with assets valued at over twice the size of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the one hand and, an enclave of limited access to finance, skills shortages and under-developed capital markets on the other hand, still exists.