New financial journalist on the block

Writing has always been his passion
Tunohole Mungoba
MICHELLINE NAWATISES

Phillepus Uusiku is a hardworking, social and easy-going guy who likes networking because he strongly believes life is really about people. Uusiku was born and raised on a small village north-west of Ondangwa called Eheke. He is the second youngest of seven children.

His parents understood the importance of education as they are both trained teachers and they constantly supported him and his siblings to excel academically.

He started his academic journey at Ondangwa Prof Primary School in 2002; then moved to Nau- Aib Primary School in Okahandja where he completed his primary education in 2008. For his secondary phase, he attended Khorab Secondary School in Otavi where he matriculated in 2013.

After graduating from the University of Namibia in 2018, he enrolled for a master’s degree and is currently in his final year.

“At the master level, I have specialised in public sector and monetary economics, which was facilitated by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) in Nairobi, Kenya. The experience was instrumental in sharpening my research, analytical and presentation skills,” he says.

Uusiku recently joined Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) where he is employed in the Market Watch division.

“As part of my duties, I am responsible for analysing and reporting on business, finance and economic news. I also research those specific areas as you must understand certain concepts before you can write a story,” Uusiku says.

He mentions that the working environment is conducive to learning and helping the company achieve its goals, but it can get hectic at times as it operates in a service delivery industry and one needs to be on top of one’s game to ensure that you deliver on time.

Uusiku joined the dynamic NMH team one month ago and he says he has settled in well. “The employees are friendly and welcoming; I am looking forward to staying with the company and achieve wonders with my dynamic team. It feels like I have been with the company for over six months,” Uusiku says.

He adds that he loves his job because writing has always been his passion even though he is not a trained journalist. After all, he has a strong economics background and it helps him to write articles in layman’s terms that any random person on the street will understand, even those who have little or no economics knowledge at all.

“It is giving me a learnable challenge and exposing me to different practices that will be instrumental in advancing my career. I love challenges because that is the only way you get to test your capabilities to unlock your true potential,” Uusiku says boldly.

When asked by Careers what he sees as the most challenging aspect of this job, he mentions that working for a company that operates in a service industry is to some extent challenging because customer service, high-quality work and productivity are priorities.

“I need to be on top of my game and always be on the lookout for what is happening in the market. I am always up for any challenge and I try by all means to fulfil the responsibilities assigned to me to the best of my ability,” he says.

According to Uusiku success in his position is writing stories that are appreciated by the general public and especially the business community, which will enable them to make informed business decisions in these tough economic times. “It gives me a sense of satisfaction,” he says.