As of Monday 13 July, the Namibia financial services sector will boast three managing directors of local banks as Nedbank Namibia on Friday confirmed the appointment of Martha Murorua as its new managing director (MD). Murorua will join her fellow women: Bank Windhoek MD Baronice Hans and Letshego Bank Namibia’s CEO Ester Kali in a female-dominated local banking industry.
Murorua takes over from previous Nedbank Namibia MD Lionel Matthews, who announced his early retirement at the end of March 2020. Nedbank Executive for Retail and Business Banking Richard Meeks has been acting in the position since 1 April 2020. Murorua has been described as a young dynamic leader, who is passionate about Namibia and growing its economy. She is said to bring sound and credible knowledge of retail banking, as well as a thorough understanding of the challenges in the domestic market.
“I am really excited to join an institution which has a proud heritage of almost 50 years in our country. With an able leadership team and a committed legion of Nedbank employees, I look forward to the opportunity to grow both the Nedbank Namibia brand and its business influence to even greater heights,” said Murorua. “Despite the unexpected Covid-19 challenges, I believe we have great prosperity in store and my aim will be to fully maximise our opportunities.”
Murorua is an MBA graduate with over 26 years of experience predominantly in financial services. In her previous role, she held the position of executive officer: consumer banking at one of Namibia’s largest commercial banks. Prior to that, Murorua spent 10 years with Old Mutual Namibia in various roles that included finance and operations manager: retail mass market, retail mass executive manager and head of lending business and strategic initiative executive. Her formative years were spent in the audit profession with PwC and TransNamib Limited. In addition to her MBA in 2009 from the University of Stellenbosch, she has also obtained a Bachelor of Accounting Degree in 2000 from the University of Namibia, and a National Diploma in Commerce from the then Polytechnic of Namibia 1995.