Johannes Gawaxab

Co-founder and Managing Partner of Eos Capital, Namibia’s home-grown leading private equity fund. He drove business expansion in Africa through acquiring, optimizing and closing businesses.

Operational and strategic oversight of companies in more than 13 African countries has given him broad experience across the private equity value chain. Prior to co-founding Eos, He was the MD: Africa for Old Mutual overseeing its operations outside South Africa in East, West and Southern Africa.

Nangula Uaandja

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Nangula has over 20 years’ experience in auditing/accounting/consulting and has served as partner on audits of various financial services institutions, state owned enterprises, mining energy and utilities as well donor-funded organisations. She was the first black and first female President of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN).

She served as a member of the Public Accountant’s and Auditors Board and was Namibia's Business Woman of the year 2011. In addition, she served as a member of the Tax Court Appeal and was appointed as a member of the first Public Office Bearers’ Remuneration and Benefits Committee by the President of the Republic of Namibia from 2006-2009. She is also a member of an 8-member Leadership team of PwC Southern Africa with oversight responsibility for countries outside South Africa.

Jason Kasuto

Jason Kasuto is a public policy and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) expert with 10 years’ experience in this field. Jason holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (Policy Formulation & Analysis); an Honours Degree in Economic Development and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. He also holds a Director’s Development Programme Certificate focusing on Corporate Governance from the Institute of Directors Southern Africa (IODSA).

He is a Board member of the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM). He is also Chairman of the Nedbank Namibia Careers Expo, the premier Careers Exhibition in Namibia.

Michael Iyambo

Currently chairing Namibian Agronomic Board & Agribank.

Key leadership positions include, Oshikoto Regional Council (Since 2016 to date) as a member of the Guinas Constituency Development Committee, Vice Chairman of the Karst Horticulture Area Committee and also the Potato and Onions Horticulture Association (POPA).

Won the Freshmark Supplier of the year 2016.

Vetumbuavi Mungunda

Currently serving as the CEO of Standard Bank Namibia since 2014. Prior to that he was a Managing Partner at Deloitte Namibia. A Chartered Accountant in both Namibia and South Africa.

Kauna Ndilula

Development Finance Specialist with diverse experience in institutional strategy development and execution. Policy formulation, strategy development, enterprise development program design, business growth strategy development, and investment management. Designed policy guidelines for various programs such as the Namibia Procurement Fund, Bank Windhoek SME financing strategy and created several financing interventions to unlock bottlenecks in Namibia and the region. Worked as a Senior Executive in Commercial Banking and in the development finance space, collaboration with international development agencies to develop local enterprises export potential.

Currently serves as a Commissioner of the National Planning Commission, a Director of Sanlam Holdings Namibia and Chairperson of the Namibia Power Corporation Board.

James Mnyupe

Incumbent MD of Allan Gray Namibia and leading local expert on wealth and investment management.

• Allan Gray Namibia (Pty) Ltd, Investment/Business Analyst, January 2010 – June 2012
• PricewaterhouseCoopers, Trainee Accountant. Jan 2007 – Jan 2010

Kenneth Matengu

• Pro-Vice Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Development, UNAM
• Associate Research Professor, Social Sciences, MRC – 2015
• Senior Researcher, Social Sciences Division, MRC, 2011 – 2015
• Deputy UNAM Research Coordinator (2008-2011)
• Namibia Director: UNAM Confucius Institute, 2012–current
• Deputy Director: UNAM, Multidisciplinary Research Centre (2009-2010)
• Head of Department: Social Sciences Division and MRC Deputy Director (January 2007 – 2010)

Florette Nakusera

Seasoned macroeconomist with over 19 years of experience, ranging between leadership, executive, management and operational experience in the financial services sector, as well as in statistics, aviation and environmental economics.

• Bank of Namibia, Director of the Research Department and Chief Economist of the Bank of Namibia
• Bank of Namibia, Deputy Director: Research Department
• Chairperson of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Board of Directors – Sept 2014 to Aug 2017
• Vice Chairperson of the Air Namibia Board of Directors – July 2015 to date.

Evangelina P. Nailenge

Board member of the Electricity Control Board, and the regulator representative at the NSX Board. 15 years working experience within the financial sector regulatory space, monetary policy and public economic policy. Prior to joining NAMFISA, at the Bank of Namibia – including being a Special Assistant to the Governor, and ultimately becoming a Deputy Director: Policy Research and Forecasting, with a responsibility to advise Government on general macroeconomic management, financial sector policy and public policy. Responsible for financial sector stability oversight and monetary policy matters.

Currently serves the joint Financial Stability Committee of the Bank of Namibia & NAMFISA. Lectured Economics and Banking at the Polytechnic of Namibia and the Institute of Bankers, respectively.

Martin Kaali Shipanga

Qualified in Information Technology & Finance

Holder of a Masters In Public Policy & Administration

Served both in Private and Public sector at Executive levels for over 15 years. An effectual leader with experience in the Financial Services industry and a serial entrepreneur passionate about Socio-Economic upliftment. Director on Private Sector Entities.

Founder & Executive Chairman Of Shipanga Holdings:

• Mamma Fresh
• Tusk Mobile & Electronics
• Shipanga Farming & Game Farm
• Shipanga Residential & Commercial Properties
• Shipi FM Radio Starion
• Shipanga Security Services
• Shipanga Medical Servcices
• Shipanga Medical Suites
• Shipanga Financial Services
• WatchZone
• Shipanga Natural Resources

Ester Simon

President of the Namibia National Students Organization (NANSO) since 2017. President of the African Union Youth Club-Namibian Chapter advocating and championing Agenda 2063 and raising awareness of the African Youth Charter. Serves as the Communication and Publicity Officer (Spokesperson) of the Southern African Students Union, which is a Student Union with affiliates of National Student Organizations within the SADC region.

Currently studying law towards an LLB Honors at the University of Namibia.

Klaus Schade

Research Associate with the Economic Association of Namibia & Institute for Public Policy Research. Involved in socio-economic research in Namibia for more than 20 years. Main areas are macro-economic and fiscal policy, regional integration, international trade and poverty analysis.

Involved in the formulation of various policies and sector strategies including the Fourth National Development Plan in 2012 and the Sector Growth Strategy for the Metal Fabrication Industry in 2015. Constructed the 2013 Social Accounting Matrix for Namibia. Worked as Executive Director for the Economic Association of Namibia (2016-2018) and held various positions at the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) (1997 – 2009).

Currently serves as non-executive Director of the Trade Law Centre in Stellenbosch / South Africa since 2013.

Banda Shilimela

Started business on a full-time basis and established the Shilimela Group of Companies, with several subsidiaries in diversified sectors and expanded his business empire to countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique and China.

This group of companies has grown tremendously and currently employs 5 228 people. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Business by the International University of Management and inducted as a Laureate into the Namibia Business Hall of Fame.

Sven Thieme

Chairman of Ohlthaver & List, the largest private sector company in Namibia, with numerous subsidiaries operating in diversified sectors, which has exposed him to almost all economic sectors. Currently serves as the President of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Served in several portfolios within the Group, including:

• Managing Director of O&L Group of Companies
• Manager Corporate Governance, O&L
• Chief Executive Officer: Model Pick ‘n Pay
• Executive Coordinator: Windhoek Schlachterei
• Director: ICT Holdings

Estelle Tjipuka

First Namibian to qualify as a forensic expert. Started her professional career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, as a trainee accountant and subsequently joined the Bank of Namibia as Senior Internal Auditor and progressed to the position of Director of Finance, until March 2013, after which she ventured into business. She is now the owner of Kauai Namibia, a health quick food franchise.

Founder of Namibia’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and played a leading role in the drafting of the Namibian Financial Intelligence Act, 3 of 2007. Recognised in 2018 at the African Woman Conference as a “Trail Blazer” for her contributions in corporate and business Namibia.

Gitta Paetzhold

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN), the representative body of all tourism accommodation facilities in Namibia, with a membership of nearly 400 establishments ranging from hotels, guest farms and houses, lodges, camps, resorts and Bed & Breakfasts.

She serves on various committees including the Federation of Namibia Tourism Association’s Board, Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) Standards Advisory Sub-Committee, NTB Marketing Advisory Committee and the Namibia Tourism Trade Fair Committee.

Justine Braby

Director of Progress Namibia, a consulting company that leads work on sustainable development in Africa (and globally). Works on themes that are interconnected, such as climate change, sustainable land management, poverty eradication, among others. Large portfolio of work supporting African governments in their sustainable development planning. Currently working closely with other entities coordinating and supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.

Immanuel Kadhila

Currently Head of Treasury at GIPF involved in setting up and managing the treasury function at the largest pension fund in Namibia. Responsibilities include assisting the formulation, review and implementation of strategic assets allocation, the asset liability model, risk management processes and local capital market development. Co-authored internal Bank of Namibia papers namely, Foreign Currency Reserve Enhancement (2015) and Infrastructure Financing in Namibia (2014).

Member of the Board and the Investment Committee of NAFAU Investment PYT (LTD), member of TUCSIN Board of Trustees, Visiting Lecturer at the Namibia Business School, University of Namibia, member of the Infrastructure Funding Committee at the Bank of Namibia and Ministry of Finance, member of the Kudu Power Project Forex Management Committee under NAMPOWER, Bank of Namibia and Ministry of Finance.

Carlos Lopez

Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa [UNECA]. During his tenure at UNECA, Lopes played a leading role in reviving the African narrative. He served as facilitator for two Namibian Cabinet Retreats as well as a resource person for the 2016 Invest in Namibia International Conference. He is a Visiting Professor at Sciences Po in Paris and a Chatham House Fellow.

Vuyo Jack

Chairman of the Audit Committee on National Treasury. Member of the Davis Tax Review Committee, he also chaired the Mining Sub-Committee and formed part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Sub-Committee. He was (until 2014) a Columnist for the Sunday Independent Business Report section.

Vuyo is a co-founder of Intellidex and a director of the company. He is chairman of Empowerdex, which he co-founded with Chia-Chao Wu. The 2009 World Economic Forum nominated him as a Young Global Leader.

Vuyo sits on the Boards of several leading South African companies including the Accounting Standards Board, Pareto Limited, Public Investment Corporation (PIC). He was chairman of the PIC sub-committees for: Audit & Risk Committee and Private Equity Funding Panel.

Dr. Joseph O. Okpaku Sr.

Globally renowned for his contributions to the definition of the challenges, opportunities and strategies for information and communications technology development.

Served, inter alia, as an adviser to the United Nations ICT Task Force and member of the Digital Divide Task Force of the World Economic Forum. An authority on Development, Governance, Long-term Strategic Planning and Future Studies.

Written and lectured extensively worldwide in these areas, in which he also consults for various institutions and international organizations. A scholar, author and critic whose intellectual interests and accomplishments span from Science and Technology, Global Strategic Development to Literature and the Arts. A respected authority on the future of man and society, knowledge, innovation and the challenges of the 21st Century.