My Career

Namibia National Reinsurance Corporation (NamibRe) managing director, Patty Karuaihe-Martin, talks about her career and trying to curtail insurance capital from leaving the country.

: Joining NamibRe was indeed a great decision.

This is because I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy working for the corporation. What has made this one of the best experiences is that although I have close to 25 years in the financial services industry, reinsurance is a very vibrant and highly technical field.

Hence, it has been a steep learning experience and thanks to the support from the local and international insurance industry, I managed to learn so much in a short time.

Since I joined, we have worked tirelessly to come up and implement strategies to ensure that the corporation attains a growth moment in line with that of the industry.

As an MD, I have been very fortunate to have a professional and highly skilled board. In my experience, a good relationship and trust between the board and its management is critical to the success of a company.

The board has given me the necessary support to enable me and my team to run the corporation successfully. In addition, the corporation enjoys tremendous support from the shareholders as well as the industry.

: I worked as the head of the tax reform: project management office for the Ministry of Finance. Prior to this, I was a partner at PWC, heading the tax and strategic advisory, risk and corporate governance division.

I have been very fortunate to have gathered relevant experience and expertise which prepared me for my current job. My career in tax, finance and auditing provided the necessary background for me to understand and grasp the technical aspects of reinsurance.

The reinsurance industry is a vibrant and unique industry and requires highly skilled and specialised personnel.

: I obtained my first degree in commerce at the University of the Western Cape and then obtained two honours degrees specialising in accounting at the University of KwaZulu Natal and the University of the Western Cape respectively.

I believe in continuous professional development and has since completed executive development programmes with the GIBS Business School at the University of Pretoria as well as the University of Stellenbosch Business School.

: I am very excited about the new strategies which we are planning to implement. However, I cannot divulge the details of the strategies at this stage as it is still early.

All I can say for now is that you must watch this space as there are interesting developments which we will share with you once the time is right.

The future plans I have will result in the corporation to grow at the same pace as the industry and to make NamibRe a reinsurer of choice in Africa.

It is important to note that at this point more than a billion Namibia dollars in insurance capital leave the country every year. Namibre is tasked with curtailing this outflow, and we are confident that the strategic projects currently in progress will make a significant step towards reducing these outflows once implemented.

In addition to meeting its mandate of reducing capital outflows, I want to see the corporation enhance its contribution to assisting government in poverty alleviation and addressing skills scarcity in the labour market. To this end, the corporation has committed to increasing funds allocated to its bursary scheme and corporate social responsibility.

Under the bursary scheme, the corporation supports young Namibians pursuing further studies by awarding them full bursaries.

The bursary scheme is supported by an internship scheme whereby we employ young graduates to give them practical job skills and confidence to make it easier for them to join the formal labour market.

Staff training will continue, as it is through a trained workforce that the corporation can achieve its strategic objectives.

I am proud to say that we are one of the few SOEs employing at least three qualified chartered accountants and we look forward to employing our own actuaries in the near future.

Indeed, my family is the source of my strength and inspiration and have contributed to the person I am today. I believe in a work/life balance and hence make time for fun and relaxation with my family. The time I spend with my family is so precious and valuable and it is a source of my strength. I also love farming and travelling whenever time permits.