GOOD corporate governance was the highlight of his time as chief of the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), David Nuyoma said yesterday, confirming that he is getting ready to take over the reins of the Government Institutions Pensions Fund (GIPF).
Nuyoma will swop his CEO seat at the DBN for the hot seat of the CEO and principal officer of the GIPF on January 1 next year.
Both the GIPF and the DBN yesterday issued statements confirming that Nuyoma will replace Maria Dax, the fund’s general manager for marketing and corporate communications, who has been acting as CEO since Primus Hango retired late last year. The announcement ended months of speculation about people eyeing the top job, including Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund CEO Jerry Muadinohamba and Labour Commissioner Bro-Mathew Shinguadja.
Nuyoma was appointed after the GIPF trustees ‘searched for someone with tested leadership, [the] right qualifications and management competency to lead the fund in [a] challenging and volatile business environment’, said Elvis Nashilongo, the GIPF’s corporate communications manager.
Nuyoma leaves behind a legacy of starting the DBN in 2004, with assets of only N$100 million, and growing its balance sheet to N$1,8 billion within nine years. At the GIPF, Nuyoma will have to manage over N$50 billion in civil servants’ assets. As if this isn’t challenging enough, he will also have to restore Namibians’ confidence in the GIPF after millions were lost in dubious investments made from the fund’s controversial Development Capital Portfolio (DCP).
It will be business as usual at the DBN, the bank’s chairperson, Elize Angula, assured in a statement yesterday. Martin Inkumbi, currently the DBN’s head of lending, will take over as acting CEO from January 1 for a period of between six and 12 months, Angula said.
For the rest of this year, Inkumbi will be working at ‘Nuyoma’s side to ensure a smooth transition’, she said.
‘The importance we attach to good corporate governance and our approach to financing development in Namibia, will remain. Martin personifies the values of the Development Bank and the board has the greatest trust in his ability to manage the bank in the manner it has been to date.’
Commenting on his tenure at the DBN, Nuyoma singled out the value of good corporate governance, and having been blessed with a professional board and a supportive shareholder as some of the factors that contributed to the DBN’s success.
Nuyoma said he had the privilege of working with one of the most dedicated teams in the country.
‘Not only are DBN staff committed to their work, they are committed to the country and have a strong desire to help build Namibia. The DBN is a strong values-based organisation and I will dearly miss the team I have been fortunate to have worked with,’ Nuyoma said.
