Our Board of Directors
NAM is guided by a highly experienced Board of Directors made up of respected leaders across finance, governance, engineering, law, and business.
Collectively, they bring deep industry knowledge, strong regulatory and strategic expertise, and a shared commitment to integrity, long-term value creation, and responsible stewardship of Namibia's wealth. Their leadership ensures that NAM remains trusted, transparent, and focused on delivering sustainable investment outcomes for our clients.
Llewellyn Smith (Chairperson)
CA (SA), BCOM ( Acoounting and Information Systems), PGDA
Llewellyn was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Coronation Fund Managers in September 2013 after having joined Coronation as Head of Operations in July 2012. Prior to joining Coronation, he was a partner at KPMG (appointed September 2006), where he also worked as manager and senior manager at KPMG’s offices in San Francisco and Cape Town respectively. While at KPMG, Llewellyn provided audit and risk-related services to the investment management industry. Llewellyn also serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Children’s Hospital Trust, an independent non-profit organization established in 1994 to raise funds to support specific projects and programmes to help advance child healthcare through the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. He was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 January 2022.
Schalk Walters (Lead Independent Director)
CA (NAM), CA (SA), CIA
Schalk was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) in Windhoek for 11 years, where he was the Namibian service line leader for the Advisory practice until 30 June 2010. His field of expertise is corporate governance, focusing on enterprise risk management, sustainability and internal control processes. Upon his withdrawal as a partner from PwC, he formed the consulting practice Fiducia Corporate Governance Solutions, which provides a wide range of specialist corporate governance consulting services to clients in the private and public sectors. He also serves as an independent non-executive director on the board of Nictus Holdings Limited. He was appointed to the NAM Board in March 2012.
Nur-Reza Salie
CA (SA), BBusSc, PGDA
Nur-Reza joined Coronation Fund Managers in 2015 and is currently the Group Financial Accountant. Prior to joining Coronation, he was a Financial Manager at Glacier by Sanlam. Nur-Reza is a qualified chartered accountant who completed his articles at KPMG South Africa where he also served as an external audit manager. Nur-Reza was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 January 2024.
Gordon Young
BA
Gordon was Chief Executive Officer of NHI from 2001 to early 2004. He has been a member of the NAM Board for twenty years and has a strong knowledge base of the South African and Namibian investment industry. Before contributing his valuable experience to NAM, he was a group strategist with African Harvest. Gordon is currently an investment adviser to a South African empowerment company.
Evat Kandongo
BSC (ENG) (Civil Engineering)
Evat is a civil engineer by profession having graduated from Tampere University of Technology, Finland, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering (1992). He is the CEO and majority shareholder of Consulting Services Africa (CSA), a Namibian Multi-disciplinary Engineering Consulting Company, and he has served in that position from 2003 until present. He has been working as a consultant for most of his career and has extensive knowledge of the technical aspects affecting construction projects in Namibia, with an experience of more than twenty-eight (28) years. Evat also served on the ENGIMED Board for the University of Namibia (UNAM) and is currently a trustee on the UNAM Engineering Fund, which helps disadvantaged engineering students. He also lectured at the UNAM Faculty of Engineering and IT, at the Jose Eduardo Dos Santos Campus from 2010 to 2012, in the field of Civil Engineering. Evat brings on board a wealth of experience in business management and leadership. He was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 January 2022.
Absalom Kapenda
CA (NAM), MBA (GIBS)
Absalom is a Chartered Accountant with an MBA from GIBS. He has over 16 years of experience in capital markets, strategic management, and regulatory oversight. Absalom has received advanced training in leadership, project management, and risk management from renowned institutions, including the University of Cape Town, University of Stellenbosch, and Euromoney in London. He has held key leadership roles, such as General Manager of Capital Markets and General Manager of Strategy and Projects at NAMFISA. In these roles, he played a pivotal role in shaping regulatory frameworks and driving strategic initiatives. He was previously an audit manager at Deloitte in Oman and Namibia. Additionally, he has served as a Director of the Namibia Stock Exchange (NSX) and Metropol (Pty) Ltd, and as a Council Member of ICAN, making significant contributions to the advancement of Namibia’s financial markets. He was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 August 2024.
Nixon Marcus
BA (Law), LLB
Nixon is a seasoned lawyer and founder of Nixon Marcus Public Law Office, a legal practice operating since 2010. He holds a BA (Law) and LLB Degrees from the University of Cape Town. Prior to the establishment of his law firm, he served in various legal roles including that of a Deputy Government Attorney and an Acting Judge of the High Court of Namibia. He also served on various bodies such as the Law Reform and Development Commission, the Transportation Commission of Namibia and the Namibia Football Association Disciplinary Committee, of which he was chairperson. He was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 August 2024.
Taschiona !Gawaxab
Dip. in Business Management, MSCE, CCNP
Taschiona is an accomplished Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialist with experience in technology operations, project management, and strategic leadership. She currently serves as Head of ICT at Nedbank Namibia, where she is responsible for the planning and execution of ICT operations, ensuring high systems availability, operational efficiency, and innovation across the organisation. Prior to joining Nedbank Namibia, Taschiona served as Senior IT Operations Manager at the FirstRand Group, where she successfully implemented infrastructure standardisation projects and ICT operational frameworks aligned with corporate strategy. She also brings valuable board experience, having served as a Non-Executive Director of Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) from 2019 to 2025. She has a proven record of excellence in ICT governance, digital transformation, and business strategy, and is passionate about leveraging technology to drive sustainable organisational growth. She was appointed to the NAM Board on 02 January 2026.
Tarah Shaanika (Chief Executive Officer)
BA ( Economics and Media Studies), MIB
Tarah is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He holds a Bachelor of Economics and Media Studies degree from the University of Namibia. He also holds a Masters in International Business( MIB) from the Polytechnic of Namibia. He held numerous non-executive positions on the boards of TransNamib, Road Fund Administration, New Era Publications Corporation, NAMZIM Newspapers (Pty) Ltd, Team Namibia among others. He was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 April 2015 and became Chief Executive Officer on 04 January 2021.
Janita Breedt (Chief Financial Officer)
CA (NAM), MBA (USB)
Janita is a Chartered Accountant with over a decade of experience in the field of auditing and finance. She has served as Acting Chief Financial Officer and substantive Head of Finance at Nedbank Namibia since 2022 until 2024 before her appointment at NAM. Prior to her career at Nedbank, Janita served as Senior Audit Manager at KPMG and PWC. She was also a Finance Manager at Old Mutual Namibia following the completion of her articles and qualification as a Chartered Accountant. She was appointed to the NAM Board on 01 August 2024.