The recipe for success is hard work

Gervasius Thikusho shows what it means to level up regardless of the circumstances.
Jamie-Lee Loss
Gervasius Thikusho is AB InBev Namibia's trade marketing and marketing country manager.

He defines himself as a "son of the soil," and hails from Marudhi village in the great Kavango East Region.

He started his pre-primary education in Rundu and later transferred to Kalenga Primary School in Grootfontein. Thikusho went on to complete his secondary education at Otjikoto Senior Secondary School in Tsumeb, where leadership was a key aspect of his journey. During his secondary school years, he was the deputy president of the Students Representative Council (SRC).

Thikusho matriculated in 2003 and continued his tertiary study at the University of Namibia (Unam), specialising in agricultural economics. He was the SRC for finance at the Unam Neudamm campus while studying there.

He then earned his honours degree in agricultural economics at the University of the Free State. To top it all off, he developed an interest in studying management courses and completed his senior management development programme (SMDP) at Stellenbosch Business School as well as a Master’s in Business Administration at Steinbeis University in Berlin, Germany.

Working upwards

In 2009, he started working as an agricultural scientific officer at the agriculture, water and forestry ministry.

He then migrated to the fast-moving consumer goods industry in 2013 as a marketing officer with the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA), where he excelled and rose through the ranks to become the organisation's marketing manager in 2016.

He held the post for three years before being selected as the acting regional manager for Rundu Fresh Produce Business Hub from 2019 to 2021.

He was appointed as the manager for marketing and business development in 2021, a post he held until October 2022 before joining a global leading brewer, AB InBev Namibia, as an Exco member responsible for trade marketing and marketing in Namibia in November 2022.

As the leader of AB InBev Namibia's marketing department, his primary role is to develop, champion, and drive trade execution plans across all segments. Moreover, to develop and localise marketing and brand strategies in accordance with the Africa Zone strategies while also ensuring good brand representation in Namibia.

Define your work

Thikusho emphasises that it is too early to predict what challenges he will face because he has only been working for slightly more than two weeks at his new workplace. However, he is ready to learn and approach the challenges head-on.

"I live by the principle of speed and impact with clarity, which is what defines my approach to my work," said Thikusho.

His advice for young people is that it is alright to fail and that it is vital to understand that this is a world where you might be rejected and make mistakes, but all you have to do is move on. Forgive yourself and learn to say no.