Speakers

DAY ONE
DAY TWO

Mr Samuel Ndahangwapo

ICAN President

Experienced Service Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the accounting industry. Skilled in Enterprise Risk Management, Income Tax, Management, Risk Management, and Auditing. Strong accounting professional with a HDIPACC focused in Accounting from Rhodes University.

Hon. Maureen M. Hinda-Mbuende

Deputy Minister of Finance & Public Enterprises

Honourable Maureen Hinda-Mbuende hails from the picturesque village of Tses in the ǁKaras Region of Namibia, a locale that encapsulates both the natural splendour and the unyielding spirit of its inhabitants—a reflection of her extraordinary journey. Honourable Maureen Hinda-Mbuende is a dedicated legislator, and her career is characterized by a profound dedication to public service and an unwavering pursuit of excellence. Presently, she holds the esteemed position of Deputy Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, a role demanding astute leadership, forward-thinking, and a deep understanding of the intricate fiscal challenges confronting our nation.

Before her illustrious political career, Hon. Hinda-Mbuende embarked on a path marked by remarkable accomplishments and exemplary leadership underpinned by passion for education and good governance. She has held diverse leadership roles, including serving as the Managing Director at her Vocational Training Centre, as Regional Manager at a Public Enterprise, the National Housing Enterprise (NHE), and as was an Acting Chief Executive Officer, at City Savings And Investment Bank (CSIB) after having been Internal Auditor as well as a Finance Manager. These positions underscore her financial expertise and strategic vision.

Her impressive career trajectory stands as a testament to her unswerving dedication not only to public and financial matters, but to public diplomacy as she previously held the positions of Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and Home Affairs and Immigration. Her ambition is to serve in a position where she can apply her skills to ensure that private/public sector efficiency in both human capital management, service delivery and financial performance are realised.

Ms. Ndeyapo Shilongo

Senior Manager: Strategy & Project Management, Namibia Investment, Promotion and Development Board

Ndeyapo is a Chartered Accountant who has pivoted her career from financial management to strategy and project management. 

She is well skilled and experienced in working with both established and up-and-coming companies to find practical solutions and make a positive impact on their ventures. Ndeyapo’s cross-sectoral expertise has shaped her into a versatile and adaptable individual with a zest for learning new skills and gaining new knowledge to best add value to clients.

She currently serves as the Senior Manager responsible for Strategy and Project Management at NIPDB, giving her insights across the organisational planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation and reporting phases. 

She is currently a Board member at Powercom and a Commissioner at the Social Security Commission.

Mr. Salomon Hei

Managing Director
High Economic Intelligence

Experienced Managing Director that is globally exposed and operated in South Africa for four years with demonstrated history of working in the research industry with a strong focus on economics and investments. Highly skilled in capital markets, fundraising, local government, project finance, real sector economy and data analysis.

My professional experience spans over 15 years, of which 8 years
have been at an executive level. I sit on several boards to provide strategic direction to the operations of those. I am a Founder and the Head of High Economic Intelligence (HEI) (Pty) Ltd, an economic and financial services consultancy.

Mr. Jason Hailonga

Chief Executive Officer
Namibia Savings and Investment Association

Jason is the Chief Executive Officer at the Namibia Savings and Investments Association (NaSIA), an industry body representing the majority of the country’s Asset Managers, Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) management companies, Linked Investment Service Providers (LISPs) and life insurance companies. NaSIA’s members are considered the custodian of the bulk of the nation’s savings and investments (i.e. the non-banking sector), managing more than 70% of the total assets of the non-banking sector, which amounted to N$366.1bn as at 31 December 2023.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Jason has been at the held of NaSIA since September 2020 and has been instrumental in cementing NaSIA’s place at the table as it relates to policy and regulation affecting the non-banking sector, by driving NaSIA’s input in key laws, policies and regulations, such as the FIM Act, amendments to the Income Tax and VAT Acts, to mention but a few.

Prior to joining NaSIA, Jason was an associate at IJG Advisory Services and was involved in the primary listing of entities such as Letshego, Standard Bank and Mobile Telecommunications (MTC), on the Namibian Stock Exchange.

Ms Mandi Olivier

Senior Executive: Pre-qualification
Professional Development

Mandi Olivier CA(SA) is passionate about learning and skills development, particularly where to comes to prospective professional accountants. Her mission is to ensure that the profession continues to develop high quality accountants who remain relevant in the VUCA world. Mandi Olivier CA(SA) started at SAICA in 2005 and is responsible for a number of different areas related to both pre and post qualification as a CA(SA), AGA(SA) and AT(SA) within the Learning, Development and National Imperatives division at SAICA.

Her responsibilities include developing and implementing a strategy for Learning and Development, maintaining and updated competency framework for CAs(SA), AGAs(SA) and ATs(SA), overseeing the monitoring and accreditation of the academic programmes, training and the training requirements in addition to addressing broader challenges facing the accounting profession in respect of education and training.

She has been responsible for the review and implementation of the revised SAICA competency framework – “The CA of the Future” (previously known as the CA2025 project) being one of SAICA’s most exciting strategic projects.

Before joining SAICA, Mandi was an Associate Director: Assurance Learning at Deloitte, where she was responsible for education and training. Prior to that she worked as an audit manager at Deloitte. Mandi has served previously on the Fasset Management Board, the Fasset Audit and Risk Committee and as a technical advisor on IFAC’s International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB).

Mr. Stefan Hugo

Chief Executive Officer,
TribeFire Studios

As a dedicated advocate for diversity and collaboration, Stefan Hugo has forged a career focused on nurturing authentic connections and fostering cross-cultural understanding. With a diverse professional background that includes serving state-owned entities and multinational groups, SME ownership, and strategic leadership in digital transformation, Stefan is honing his expertise at the intersection of finance, people and technology.

His career includes positions such as NamRA Deputy Chairperson, PwC Partner, NIPDB Advisory Board Member, Audit Committee Chair of Stanlib Namibia and the establishment of TribeFire Studios. Stefan firmly believes that the convergence of financial skills and AI is the cornerstone of success in our dynamic financial landscape. With a passion for humanely integrating technology, AI-enhanced financial services, and sustainable computing within the financial sector, he is dedicated to shaping a brighter and more innovative financial future. Stefan is a registered Chartered Accountant and a member of ICAN

Ms. Melanie Harrison

Country Managing Partner,
Deloitte & Touche

Melanie is the Country Leader for Deloitte Namibia. She is also the Director for Risk Advisory for Deloitte Namibia where she overseas the delivery of risk management, compliance, internal audit, forensic, human capital, cyber, IT audit, data analytics, business continuity, ESG and digital transformation services to clients. She has 18 years of experience and has also worked across numerous industries such as financial services, energy and resources, telecommunications, consumer business and public sector.

Mr. Roger Wyllie

Manager: Africa Assurance Innovation
PwC South Africa

Roger is a manager at PwC South Africa, currently working in the Africa Assurance Innovation team and Capital Markets division. Roger recently completed his assurance traineeship in the TMT sector, where he maintained a hybrid position as both audit and innovation trainee. Over the past four years, his dual involvement in these two fields offered him a unique perspective on audit.

To date, Roger has built over 35 dynamic, scalable digital solutions that have been utilised across multiple continents. He has collaborated with teams around the world, worked on numerous business-led innovations and pioneered his own digital upskilling campaign, which encouraged over 250 members to join Roger for upskilling sessions daily at 6am in the office. He completed this over-and-above his existing duties, which led to him being crowned as the inaugural trainee trailblazer for South Africa – elected by the country’s governing body for accountancy, SAICA.

Mr. Desmond Nikanor

Vice Chairperson
Namibia Institute of Corporate Governance

Desmond Nikanor is the an expert Strategist & experienced HR Executive. Mr Nikanor is widely qualified and internationally certified in the areas of Strategy, Governance, Human Capital, Culture and Performance. Mr Nikanor has plied his trade for the past 15 years across a number of multinational mining houses, public sector Investment Funds & international donor organizations such as the United Nations.

He is also a owner anddirector in a number of private companies and organisations in his capacity as a certified director of companies. Mr Nikanor brings a wealth of experience in managing, leading andimplementing strategic and organisational projects.

Mr. Escher Luanda

Executive: Ethics & Governance,
Government Institutions Pension Funds

Escher Luanda is a Namibian C-suite governance and ethics strategist. With an educational background in law and business, Escher has held various governance roles such as company secretary, director, trainer, advisor and consultant.

He is the immediate past President of the Namibia Institute of Corporate Governance, previous chairman of Air Namibia, previous chairman of the Namibian Retirement Funds Institute, former Independent Director of Namforce Life Insurance, a former member of the Committee for Responsible Investing South Africa and previous Advisory Board member of Business Ethics Network of Africa. Escher is a Presidential appointee on the National Youth Service and is a member of the COSAFA Governance Committee. Escher is a Fellow of both the Mauritius Institute of Directors and Namibia Institute of Corporate Governance.

He is an admitted legal practitioner of the Namibian High Court and a certified ethics officer with the Ethics Institute/USB. He holds the qualifications MBL, LLB, BJuris and Graduate Diploma in Compliance.

Mr Rodney Ndamba

Chief Executive
Institute for Sustainability Africa (INŚAF)

Rodney is the Chief Executive/Founder of the Institute for Sustainability Africa ((INŚAF) and has over 20 years of experience working in the private and academic sector in Zimbabwe and United Kingdom in retail, healthcare, construction, Not-for-profit, consulting and academic education holding roles in management, accounting, finance, University teaching and corporate sustainability consulting.

He is a member of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Listing Committee, ESG Exchange and GRI Certified Sustainability Professional. Rodney continues rise as a renounced international speaker in many conferences and training events in Africa, Europe, India, UK and US from his passion on corporate sustainability, business strategy, responsible investing, sustainable businesses, business research and sustainability leadership.

Ms. Lebogang Senne

Technical Director
Pan African Federation of Accountants

Ms Senne is a Technical Director at the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and the Deputy Chairperson of the Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC) of South Africa. In her role at PAFA, Lebogang has been instrumental in developing and supporting the overall organisational strategy and has specifically been responsible for the organisation’s technical excellence strategic pillar.

Ms Senne is the Africa representative on the IFRS Foundation’s Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) and represents PAFA on the International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS). Additionally, she is co-secretariat for the Africa Integrated Reporting Council (AIRC), the vehicle through which PAFA and the World Bank, as co-conveners, seek to promote and support the adoption of sustainability reporting, integrated thinking and Integrated reporting in Africa.

Ms. Tatenda Nyamutamba

Chief Financial Officer, Namibia Special
Risks Insurance Association

Tatenda is a qualified Chartered Accountant with more than twelve years experience in financial reporting, accounting, auditing and corporate governance. She currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for an insurance company. She also serves as an Independent Non-executive Director and Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee for an electrical distribution company. Tatenda completed her Master of Commerce in Financial Reporting, Analysis and Governance with the University of Cape Town. She has developed a keen interest in Environmental, Social and Governance reporting and sustainability matters following her Masters thesis where she performed a study on the current status of sustainability reporting by public interest companies in Namibia.

Mr. Timothy Rutt

Senior Director – Syllabus Development
Association | AICPA | CIMA

Became a senior academic within leading UK universities after gaining practical experience in audit, financial systems, management accounting and board-level experience as executive finance director and non-exec as Audit committee chair.

Reading for a PhD at The University of Sheffield on the role of professions and professional education. Examining the accountancy profession’s ability to lay the foundations of progressive knowledge and analysis to enable members to guide and responsibly lead organisations to sustainable success.

In my current role within the Association, I lead the future development of our global professional accounting and finance education through rigorous and valid research to understand the future of finance. This research will inform educational processes that can lay the foundations of current and relevant knowledge and analysis for students who aspire to guide and lead organisations to sustainable success. This research also supports members with opportunities to maintain and develop their roles in the face of continual change. Ultimately, my work and the team I lead will transition the profession into a new era of roles, functions, and careers.

Dr Alfred Van Kent

Executive Director
Ministry of Higher Education, Technology & Innovation

Dr. Alfred van Kent is a Physicist by training with a Master’s Degree (Experimental Nuclear Physics) and Ph. D in Physics, from the University of the Western Cape / National Accelerator Centre, South Africa and the University of Namibia. He further obtained a Masters of Business Administration with elective in Investment and Portfolio Management (MANCOSA) and Post Graduate Certificate in Environmental Engineering (University of Gent). He started his career as a Primary School teacher, Laboratory scientist, Researcher, and Chief Development Planner.

He joined the government of the Republic of Namibia, at the Ministry of Environment Tours in 1992 as Environment Scientist and thereafter became the first Director of National Research, Science and Technology. He was promoted to the position of Deputy Permanent Secretary / Deputy Executive Director responsible Higher Education, Technical Vocational Education and Science and Technology and National Commission for UNESCO. Thereafter, he became the Permanent Secretary/Executive Director for the same functions. He represented Namibia at the Earth Summit (1992) and

subsequently in the Commission for Sustainable Development. He also participated in international negotiations, notably on the Basel Convention, Montreal Protocol, Cartagena Protocol, Hazardous and Chemical Substances Instruments, and various Space Science and Technology and Astronomy activities and instruments. He has also been a member of a number of Boards including: the Executive Committee of the National Commission for UNESCO, Petroleum Fund Board, National Qualifications Authority Council, Boards of Research Centres, and Council of the University of Namibia, Council of the
Namibia University of Science and Technology, the Council for Higher Education and part of Core Team to develop Namibia’s Vision 2030. His area of expertise range from Hazardous, Toxic Waste and Pollution Management, Experimental Nuclear Researcher, Public Policy development including Science, and Technology Policy, as well as Innovation Policy, Project Management, Mining, Drilling Technologies, etc.. His current key areas of engagement are Higher Education Funding and Management, Technical Vocational Education and Training, as well as Science, Technology and Innovation include governance oversight, financial allocation and management, national policy and strategy development, and strategic project implementation.

Prof. Ferdinand Gideon

Pro-Vice Chancellor: Academic Affairs
University of Namibia

Prof Gideon hails from Oshikuku in the Omusati Region. He first enrolled at UNAM in 1996 for a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in mathematics and science, which he completed in 1999. In 2000, Prof. Gideon started working at the university as a tutor in the science department. He completed his MSc in Mathematics at Rhodes University in South Africa before rejoining UNAM as a lecturer in the mathematics department.

He earned his PhD in applied mathematics (Banking and Finance – Risk Management and Basel II) from the North-West University in South Africa. Prof. Gideon recently completed a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Strategy. After completing his studies, he then returned to UNAM to take over as the head of the Mathematics Department, in the Faculty of Science a position he held until 2012 when he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Science. He became associate professor in 2013.

Moving up the ladder within the University structure, at the age of 40 years, Prof Gideon was the first Namibian to be appointed to the position of Pro-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Namibia (UNAM) in January 2017. His office serves as the chief advisor on academic matters to the Vice-Chancellor. His office is instrumental in fostering excellence in Learning, Teaching, and research across all faculties, academic centres, inclusive of the university library. Being at the fore front of academic affairs of the University, Prof. Gideon is also charged with the development of University’s academic programmes and curricula, which are responsive and relevant to the socio-economic needs of Namibia, the SADC region, Africa and globally.

Prof. Gideon’s research interest are in banking and finance – Applied Mathematics, as well as innovation, particularly in the Higher Education space.

Ms. Sylvia Demas

Deputy Executive Director
National Council for Higher Education

Sylvia Demas is a development planner with diverse educational background. She holds two Masters degrees in Demography and in Business Administration. She also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation, a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education Quality Assurance, and a Bachelor of Science degree. She is currently a doctoral candidate.

Sylvia has a wealth of experience spanning over a period of 27 years in policy and programme analysis; planning; implementation monitoring and evaluation. She served as a development planner in various posts at the National Planning Commission where she played a substantive role in the formulation, implementation and evaluations of the Namibia’s First, Second and Third National Development Plans; Namibia’s Vision 2030; the National Human Resources Plan; the National Population Policy; the Poverty Reduction Strategy; and more.

She also served as a Senior Researcher at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM). In her current position as Deputy Executive Director at the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), Sylvia oversees operations and directs the administration of the higher education management information system; funding; and quality assurance. At international level, she serves as Executive Secretary of the Southern African Quality Assurance Network (SAQAN) and as Board Member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).

Sylvia is known for her exceptional ability to analyse complex developmental issues and devise practical solutions.

Mr. Admire Ndurunduru

Consultant: Quality, Mobility & Public & Financial Management
Pan African Federation of Accountants

Admire Ndurunduru is the Secretary of the Public Accountants and Auditors Board of Zimbabwe, the statutory regulator and oversight body for the Accountancy profession in Zimbabwe. He holds degrees in Business Management, MBA and the SEPA from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Robert Zwane

Executive Director: Learning , Development & National Imperatives,
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants

Robert, a CA(SA), is the Executive Director: Learning, Development and National Imperatives at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). He was previously the Director for the Education and Transformation Department at the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), where he was instrumental in a number of initiatives, including leading the implementation of the Audit Development Programme (ADP).

He spent some time at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in various positions, including being an academic trainee, a senior lecturer, and a house warden at one of UJ’s residences. He completed his training programme with one of the Big 4 firms. On a global scale, Robert sat on the International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC) International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) as a technical advisor to the South Africa representative.

Raymond Chamboko

Director
W. Consulting

Raymond is a Director with W.consulting. He trained with Coopers & Lybrand and Ernst & Young, where his portfolio of clients included listed multinational entities, public interest entities as well as other significant unlisted entities. Since leaving the profession, Raymond has worked across various industries that include Agri-processing, Aerospace and Defence, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Mining, Public Utilities, Telecommunications and Travel, Hospitality and Leisure.

He has been involved in IFRS Accounting, Sustainability Reporting and Integrated Reporting consulting and implementation projects for listed and public interest entities and has, over the years, gained significant experience in the interpretation and practical application of IFRS and corporate reporting. He has also consulted to the World Bank on capacity building on IFRS skills and monitoring in Southern Africa. He is a co-author of the publications Applying IFRS for SMEs and for a number of years was co-author of the internationally-renowned Wiley Interpretation and Application of International Financial Reporting Standards.

Raymond has represented the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) at the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum, an advisory body of the IFRS Foundation, since 2018. He currently serves as the chairman of the Corporate Value Reporting Technical Advisory Group of PAFA. He is a member of the Financial Reporting Investigations Panel of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, a body that acts as technical advisor on IFRS-related matters related to companies listed on the Exchange. He also serves on the Zimbabwe Accounting Practices Board and sits on the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Legal & Compliance Committee. He previously served on the IFRS Foundation’s Small and Medium-Sized Entities Implementation Group (SMEIG).

Mr. Steven Ndorokaze

Chief: Strategic Communications, Stakeholder Engagement & Taxpayers Education, Namibian Revenue Agency

CAREER OBJECTIVE: To establish myself in the corporate world and find a challenging position with more responsibilities, which would propel me to greater heights in my career. KEY FOR SUCCESS: Maintain focus in a demanding work environment, when exposed to deadlines. Good-communicator with understanding of the different cultural groups, sound judgment and ability to adapt faster. Experience: Chief Strategic Communications and Support Engagements –Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) – August 2021 to present.

Head: Legal and Company Secretary – Momentum Metropolitan Namibia Limited – October 2018 – July 2021. Head: Legal Services and Company Secretary – NBC – June 2015 – September 2018. Legal Advisor/Company Secretary – NBC – April 2013 – May 2015. Producer: Political Desk (Windhoek) – NBC – Sept 2007- Mar 2013. Camera Operator- NBC- (Windhoek) – NBC – Nov 2005- Aug 2007. Camera Operator (Walvis Bay) – NBC – Oct 2003- Nov 2005. Camera Operator (Walvis Bay) – NBC – Jun 2003- Sep 2003. Freelance Correspondent Otjiherero Service Erongo Region – NBC – Sep 2003- Nov 2005. Camera Operator (Windhoek) – NBC – May 1998- Jun 2003. Trainee Camera Operator- NBC- May 1997- April 1998. Education Consultant- Edutech- Feb- April 1997. .