Inspired by leadership with integrity, intelligence and humility

Octavia Tsibes
Elizabeth Joseph

The key ingredient to a perfectly planned future is humility and a lot thereof.

Careers sat down with Esther Kafidi, financial procurement manager at Old Mutual to get a glimpse of her journey at the Industry leader in the financial sector in Namibia.

Growing up in the north of the country in the Ohangwena region, Kafidi knew she was destined for greatness. Refusing to be a statistic she completed her grade 12 in 1996 and then moved on to study Accounting and Finance at the then Polytechnic of Namibia, now Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST).

She then enrolled at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where she obtained her B-Tech degree in Costs and Management Accounting.

Kafidi started her career at an early age – at 17 years of age she started working at Bank Windhoek as part of the first intake of the bank’s Candidate Bankers Training Programme (CBT).

Kafidi explored various industries; some of these include Langer Heinrich Mine, where she held the position of Management Accountant for five years and as Finance Support Manager for Manufacturing at SABMiller, now AB-InBev Namibia.

“The position at SABMiller was the position that I believe challenged me on so many levels. I was a part of the construction and setting up of systems team at the Namibia plant,” says Kafidi.

Old Mutual’s strength lies in winning together and co-creating a caring environment with its employees to continuously improve internal and external customers’ experiences through Responsible Business. Ester’s unique skills and abilities are therefore valuable in her current position, where she is required to set up, and co-ordinate and manage a centralised procurement function for business. This will enable her to manage efficiencies, cost accounting and to provide cost reporting across the Group.

“I am inspired by leadership with intelligence, integrity and humility and I am excited to be part a globally recognised employer brand that passionately enables positive futures through global best practice that is locally relevant”, she said.

Kafidi is currently studying towards a CIMA qualification, at Managerial level. She hopes to complete her studies in the next year and also to completely transform the procurement department in order to see great results.

“It takes drive and perseverance to deliver desirable results. Being in this position therefore requires resilience to take on stretching and challenging assignments,” says Kafidi.