Written by Felix Njini | From Bloomberg

NamFin-X, a group of Namibian and international investors, is reapplying for a license to establish a new securities exchange in the country, after an initial bid was stalled by regulators seeking more information.

The revised application should be presented this week and NamFin-X will start recruiting staff for the exchange once regulatory approval is granted, Helmut Angula, one of the founders of NamFin-X, said by phone from the capital, Windhoek.

“It’s a matter of how soon they can process the application and grant the license,” said Angula, a former finance minister who left government in 2010. “We know it’s quite a lengthy process, but we hope it will not be too long.”

The granting of a license for a second bourse in the southwest African country was delayed after regulator Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority sought “more technical information and a detailed analysis” from NamFin-X. The authority said the initial application had a lack of adequate information on its “shareholding structure and proposed capitalization.”

NamFin-X is controlled by Namibian and so-far unidentified foreign investors. Angula said he couldn’t identify the non-Namibian partners before the regulator’s approval.

Read more at Bloomberg