The African continent is currently the fastest-growing region in terms of new investors added to the market. Find out how to invest in the Namibian Stock Exchange. We also include a brief description of how to invest in International Exchanges from Namibia.

How To Invest in the Namibian Stock Exchange in 6 steps

1. Pick a Broker

Brokers are the authorised intermediaries to trade financial assets on the Namibian Stock Exchange. You are not allowed to Trade on your own.

2. Open a Trading Account with the Broker

The only requirement is to be of legal age and have a residence in Namibia. The broker will provide you with access to their investment platforms, allowing you to send purchase and sale orders to the Namibian Stock Exchange's central system.

3. Choose the Asset in which to invest

The investor has to decide whether to invest in shares, sovereign bonds or corporate bonds.

4. After making a decision, send a Buy order via the Broker

Submitting a purchase order for a financial asset. It is possible to set a limit price or a market price of the selected asset.

5. The transaction is completed once buying and selling prices match

When the bidding price of an asset equals the asking price, the trade is executed. The Brokers makes the transaction payment at the Stock Exchange in your name, and they deliver the transaction amount to the buyer/seller broker. You become the legal owner of the asset.

6. The Broker issues the transaction notification and charges their fees

There is no fixed fee, which means that when choosing a broker to invest in the Namibian Stock Exchange, it is essential to choose one that better adapts to the investor's situation.

How does the Namibian Stock Exchange work?

Based in Windhoek, the Namibian Stock Exchange was founded in 1992 and is its leading Stock Exchange.

In short, the stock exchange is the institution that facilitates the negotiation of financial instruments in Namibia. Supply of financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and the demand for these instruments (i.e. investors) interact here.

The Stock Exchange holds daily "Trading Sessions", for which it provides the physical, technological, human and operational means that allow efficient communication between Brokers, Issuers and Investors.

What is a Securities Issuer?

Issuers of securities are companies that seek to grow through raising capital at the Exchange. These companies raise money by issuing debt (bonds) or capital (shares). Issuers of securities may be government-controlled entities or private companies, but no matter who owns the company, it is the issuer who backs the investment.

For example, if you invested in bonds from a private company, the company will be required to pay the principal and interests to the bond investors.

As of Jan 2021, the following Namibian Companies issued shares at the NSX: African Oxygen Ltd (Symbol: AOX); Alpha Namibia Industries Renewable Energy Power Limited “ANIREP” (ANE); Anglo American plc (ANM); B2Gold Corporation (B2G); Bannerman Resources Limited (BMN); Barloworld Ltd (BWL); Bravura Holdings Limited   (CMB); Capricorn Group Limited (CGP); Celsius Resources Limited (CER); Deep   Yellow Limited (DYL); Firstrand Ltd (FST); FirstRand Namibia Limited (FNB);   Forsys Metals Corporation (FSY); Investec Limited (IVD); Letshego Holdings   (Namibia) Limited (LHN); Marenica Energy Limited (MEY); MCUBE One Investment Ltd (MQA); Mediclinic International plc (MEP); Momentum Metropolitan Holdings (MMT); Namibia Asset Management Limited (NAM); Namibia Breweries Limited   (NBS); Nedbank Group Limited (NBK); Nictus Holdings Limited (NHL); Oceana Group   Ltd (OCG); Old Mutual Ltd (OMM); Omajowa Properties Ltd (OMJ); Oryx   Properties Limited (ORY); Paladin Energy Limited (PDN); Paratus Namibia   Holdings Limited (NUSP); PSG Konsult Limited (KFS); Sanlam Limited (SLA);   Santam Limited (SNM); SBN Holdings (SNO); Shoprite Holdings Ltd (SRH);   Standard Bank Group Ltd (SNB); Stimulus Investments Limited (SILP); Tadvest   Limited (TAD); Trustco Group Holdings Limited (TUC); Truworths International   Ltd (TRW); Vukile Property Fund Limited ()

How is a Trade completed in the Stock Exchange?

A trade, or, in other words, the investment flow of any financial instrument, could be summarised as follows:

1. Sellers (supply) offer to sell a financial instrument at a price, for example, a bond issued by a company. Sellers aim to make this price as high as possible (Price 1).

2. Investors (demand) who wish to buy the bond, make an offer for a price. They want this price to be as low as possible (Price 2). Then, Price 1 is higher than Price 2.

3. Buyers interact with sellers until they are at the point where Price 1 equals Price 2. When this occurs, the financial transaction is completed, and the bond is exchanged between the seller and the buyer. For this interaction to occur, a Broker is needed: A company that has the role of mediation between sellers and buyers, ordering prices and quantities of financial instruments. Below we explain the services that these companies provide.

What is a Broker?

Transactions of financial assets can only be completed through a company that works as an intermediary between investors and sellers. These intermediaries are known as Brokers.

Through complex technological tools, brokers manage transactions between investors, ordering the purchase and sale orders of financial assets by price and by order of arrival. By performing this service, they obtain a commission when, for example, executing buying a share.

Brokers are, then, companies in which buyers and sellers interact and come together to buy stocks or bonds at the negotiated price.

To invest in the Namibian Stock Exchange, an investor needs to open an account with a local Broker. As of January 2021, there were 4 authorised dealers: Cirrus Securities, IJG Securities, PSG Wealth Management, and Simonis Storm Securities. All of them are based in Windhoek.