Company: Capricorn Group
Country: Namibia
Sector: Regional Banks
CEO: Not publicly listed
Website: Not publicly listed
Careers Page: Not publicly listed
LinkedIn: Not publicly listed
Email: Not publicly listed
Headquarters: Windhoek, Namibia
Founded: 1982
Valuation/Revenue: $599.2m market value (African Business Top 250, 2025)
Capricorn Group is a Namibian financial services holding company listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), best known as the parent of Bank Windhoek, one of Namibia’s largest commercial banks. The group also has interests in asset management, insurance, microlending and unit trust businesses across Namibia and neighbouring markets.
What Does Capricorn Group Do?
Capricorn Group’s flagship subsidiary, Bank Windhoek, provides personal, business and corporate banking services across Namibia, including branch and digital banking, foreign exchange (via a partnership with American Express), and international banking services. Bank Windhoek is by far the dominant contributor to group earnings, historically accounting for more than 95% of Capricorn Group’s total income and around 89% of its net asset value. Beyond banking, the group operates in short- and long-term insurance, asset management, and microfinance, giving it a diversified financial services footprint within Namibia, and it has also extended banking operations into Botswana and Zambia under related brands.
Is Capricorn Group Legit?
Yes. Capricorn Group is one of the largest listed companies on the Namibian Stock Exchange and Bank Windhoek is a longstanding, regulated Namibian bank supervised by the Bank of Namibia. The group publishes audited annual reports and is widely covered by Namibian financial media as a bellwether for the country’s banking sector.
How Big Is Capricorn Group?
African Business magazine’s Top 250 companies in Africa list valued Capricorn Group at approximately $599 million in its 2025 ranking. As of mid-2022 reporting, Bank Windhoek operated more than 51 branches and agencies across Namibia, plus around 149 ATMs and 253 Cash Express points, reflecting one of the more extensive retail banking networks in a sparsely populated country of roughly 2.5 million people.
Who Owns Capricorn Group?
Capricorn Group’s major shareholders include Capricorn Investment Holdings Limited, which holds roughly 40.7%, the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF), Namibia’s largest pension fund, with about 26%, and Nam-mic Financial Services Holdings with roughly 9.9%, alongside employee share trusts and public shareholders holding the remainder. This structure gives Namibian institutional and public investors — rather than foreign banking groups — effective control of the country’s largest domestically owned banking group.
Where Is Capricorn Group Headquartered?
Capricorn Group and its Bank Windhoek subsidiary are headquartered in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, where Bank Windhoek opened its first branch in 2001 as part of a national expansion following its founding in 1982, when a group of entrepreneurs led by Koos Brandt acquired eight local branches of the former Volkskas Bank.
How Old Is Capricorn Group?
Bank Windhoek’s roots go back to 1982, giving the group more than four decades of banking history in Namibia. Capricorn Group itself was later established as the listed holding structure above Bank Windhoek and its sister businesses, consolidating the group’s insurance, asset management and other financial services activities under a single NSX-listed entity.
How Does Capricorn Group Compare to Its Competitors?
In Namibian banking, Capricorn Group’s Bank Windhoek competes primarily with Standard Bank Namibia, FNB Namibia (First National Bank) and Nedbank Namibia, all subsidiaries or affiliates of larger South African banking groups. Bank Windhoek’s position as a majority Namibian-owned bank, rather than a foreign-controlled subsidiary, is often cited as a point of differentiation, appealing to government and local institutional depositors seeking domestically anchored financial partners.
Links
Website: Not publicly listed
Careers Page: Not found
LinkedIn: Not found
Email: Not publicly listed
FAQ
Is Capricorn Group legit?
Yes, it is a regulated, listed Namibian financial services group and parent of Bank Windhoek, one of the country’s largest banks.
Who owns Capricorn Group?
Capricorn Investment Holdings (~40.7%), the Government Institutions Pension Fund (~26%) and Nam-mic Financial Services Holdings (~9.9%) are the major shareholders, with the remainder held by employee trusts and the public.
How big is Capricorn Group?
African Business’s Top 250 ranking valued it at approximately $599 million in 2025.
What is Capricorn Group’s main subsidiary?
Bank Windhoek, which contributes more than 95% of group income.
Is Capricorn Group publicly traded?
Yes, on the Namibian Stock Exchange.
When was Bank Windhoek founded?
In 1982.