Nedbank CEO Jason Quinn has met high-ranking Namibian government officials to reaffirm the lender’s commitment to the oil- and gas-rich country and is contemplating a model to bring local ownership to its subsidiary there.
Quinn, who visited Namibia last week with Terence Sibiya, the group’s head of Africa regions, said he discussed the issue of local ownership with the subsidiary’s board.
“The commitment I will make is that we have a very open mind towards exploring optionality with respect to local ownership, for gear reasons and not just for regulatory reasons. I think it is important for us to demonstrate our commitment to Namibia through also enabling local ownership,” Quinn said.
“I am not sure yet what that means in terms of a structure we may come up with. What I can tell you is that in my previous life, I looked after a portfolio of 15 countries and interestingly enough, the countries that performed well over time had local ownership.”
One options is for Nedbank to list the subsidiary on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), with a broad-based Namibian shareholding.
Rivals FirstRand and Standard Bank are already listed on the NSX, and the Bank of Namibia expressed concern earlier this year about the banking sector’s persistent failure to meet local ownership targets.
The country has long set a minimum local threshold stake of 25% in all commercial banks for locals.
While Nedbank has yet to take a firm position on the local ownership of the Namibian business, Quinn, who also met senior officials of the country’s central bank during his visit, said the group “categorically want to grow our Namibian business”.
Quinn expects the bank to play a big role in financing oil and gas projects in Namibia. To this end, he met senior officials from TotalEnergies. In 2022, the French energy major made a significant discovery of light oil with associated gas on the Venus prospect, located in block 2913B in the Orange Basin, offshore southern Namibia.
TotalEnergies is the operator, with a 40% working interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30%) and Impact Oil and Gas (20%). The remaining 10% is held by state-owned National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia.
“No conversation about Namibia or its prospects will be complete without mentioning oil and gas.” Quinn said. “Clearly, that is a priority for Nedbank. TotalEnergies is on the brink of a final investment decision and that is in the region of $15bn to $20bn, which will then take five years of development. For 20 to 50 years after that this economy will be transformed in front of our eyes,” he said.
“As Nedbank, we are, of course, partnering on the financing of the major project. We have a very big balance sheet and expertise in infrastructure and I think we will participate well in the project. However, what is more important for our business here is the downstream impact that will support the large infrastructure project and expansion over time.”
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