22 November 2021

Nedbank Namibia has appointed Tjivingurura Mbuende as their new executive for corporate and investment banking. He brings a wealth of experience to Nedbank Namibia, having worked in the financial sector for over a decade. Mbuende received his education in Namibia, Australia, Malaysia, and the United States.

Mbuende holds a Masters of Arts (Economics) from the New School (a university in New York City) and a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

The 39-year-old Mbuende’s experience spans across economic research, banking, and investment management. His stints include Head: Public Sector at Standard Bank as well as Head of Distribution at Stanlib Namibia. He also previously worked at Namibia Unit Trust Managers Ltd as Executive Director and Head: Retail Business. His work experience also includes working at Alexander Forbes Investment Namibia as Chief Operating Officer. Earlier in his career, Mbuende worked at the Institute of Public Policy Research as a research assistant.

He explains how he ended up studying in Australia: “I was studying through the University of Technology, Sydney, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and as my majors in corporate finance and marketing were not available in my final year, I moved to Sydney, Australia to complete my bachelor’s degree.”

He later moved to New York, where he studied for a Master of Arts (Economics), a move he says was meant to cement his global experience before returning to Namibia.

Talking about joining Nedbank at this time of slow economic growth and the Covid-19 pandemic, Mbuende says it is a tough economic cycle, but he points out that he looks forward to the challenges of providing innovative solutions to Nedbank Namibia clients.

“Nedbank has been known to be committed to making an impact in society through green financing, responsible lending and support for sustainability initiatives. It resonated with me to be part of a bank that considers the long term societal impacts in its business operations.”

Mbuende notes that the economy has been in recession since 2016 and the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing structural challenges.  “As the consumer is strained, businesses that depend on the end user will be hesitant to invest in such an environment. The implications for some financial service providers would be reduced business activity in the short term. Additionally, the implications for those who provide services to consumers will also remain challenging over the short term, due to increased unemployment.” He notes that there has been an increase in the use of technology and innovation, coupled with leaner cost structures and more efficient expenditure within the industry.

Commenting on some of the things that he learnt early in his career, Mbuende said one of his mistakes was to implement strategy at a faster pace than what the culture of the business was able to absorb. “This resulted in resistance and other detours before we reached our strategic objectives.”

He is currently reading a book titled “Positive Discipline” by Dr Jan Nelsen, a distinguished psychologist who unpacks how to raise joyful and successful children. Before that he read, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, who uncovers through empirical research what it takes to build world class businesses.

Talking about some of life lessons he learnt in his younger days, he recounts trying to ride a horse without much experience. “I was excited about riding a horse at its maximum speed. I could not control it properly and fell off. Fortunately, I was not badly injured, but I did not want to ride a horse again, due to my unfortunate mishap. One of my uncles told me that I should get back on the horse again. Getting back on the horse as soon as possible taught me to face my fears as quickly as possible before they hindered me from doing what I was capable of doing.”

In his spare time, he enjoys listening to a wide variety of music such as contemporary Christian music, smooth jazz, Afro-jazz, and gospel music.