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Environment matters

Immanuel Ndakondja Katali is the founder and managing director of his own environmental consulting firm called INK Enviro Consultants.

At the age of 27, Katali runs and operates INK Enviro Consultants in Windhoek, specialising in environmental impact and socio-economic assessments.

Having spent most of his life in Windhoek, Katali, he is well-aware and accustomed to the fast-paced life in the capital, enabling him to adjust and cope with the world of deadlines that is critical for any consulting business.

After matriculating from Jan Mohr Secondary School in 2009, he enrolled at the University of Namibia (Unam), where he pursued an honours’ degree in geography, environmental studies and sociology.

“Apart from being passionate about the environment and the sustainability of it, my favourite subject in high school was geography and it is due to this passion that I chose to pursue any field related to geography, hence the geography and environmental studies course,” he said.

“It was during my time at Unam that I gained the theoretical knowledge of the environmental management industry, and in particular environmental impact assessments.

“Learning the importance of conserving the environment for sustainability allowed me to have the desire and strong will to learn, in order to play my part in making a difference as a positive step towards achieving environmental sustainability,” Katali added.

After working for a number of different experts in the environment management industry, he decided to take a great leap and become his own boss.

“It came to a point in my career where I felt I have gained enough experience and the know-how to be able to set new exciting challenges, greater targets and have a long-term vision within the industry,” he explained.

According to him, one of the most challenging experiences in the industry is finding the balance between physical wealth and emotional and natural wealth.

“In addition to that, a balance between environmental sustainability and what the client wants and needs. I have learned to cope with this challenge by being subject to ethics and being transparent in any assessment that I am conducting,” Katiti tells Careers.

“One of the greatest joys is knowing that you have addressed all the potential impacts of a project, by developing effective mitigation measures as part of the environmental management plan. At the end of the day, you have done your part in conserving the environment and as much as possible, minimising potential impacts associated with a project and therefore meeting client expectations and delivering an environmental clearance certificate.”

Katali envisions INK Enviro Consultants striving “to be the independent environmental consultant of choice to all our clients and a reputable name in our industry”.

“Our focus on client-driven quality aims to ensure complete satisfaction, while creating opportunities for our mutual long-term success.”