A rising star in Namibia’s corporate sector Alisa Amupolo yesterday started as the new CEO of State-owned diamond marketing and sales company Namib Desert Diamonds.

Amupolo replaces Kennedy Hamutenya, who started Namdia in 2017 as founding CEO. 

His contract expired this year and was replaced by general manager for sales and marketing Lelly Usiku as the company’s acting chief executive.

 Hamutenya approached the courts to force the company to retain him for five more years.

 Amupolo was previously CEO of PowerCom and has worked in an array of positions; she serves on several boards of mostly ICT companies.

 Namdia is entitled to 15% of diamond production from the government’s venture with global diamond giant De Beers in its NamDeb and Debmarine ventures.

 In its 2020/21 annual report, Namdia stated the full-year group profit after tax amounted to N$13.3 million, 86.0% down from the prior year’s N$95.2 million. 

“The company’s ordinary performance from the sale of rough diamonds amounts to a profit after tax of N$44.2 million as a result of the state of the diamond market in times of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the annual report stated. 

 The report added that since inception, Namdia has spent over N$20 million on various charity and philanthropic programmes.