The Managing Director: Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi – Managing Director Of Namdeb
July 24, 11
With a degree in law specializing in petroleum and mining policies, and a stint as director of mines, Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi was a natural pick to lead Namdeb, the Namibian government and De Beers joint venture.
How/why did you get into the diamond industry?
I started my Namibian working career in the mining industry through the Ministry of Mines and Energy in the Directorate of Mines in 1997, where I started off as chief mineral rights officer and eventually working my way through to the position of director of mines. I studied law specializing in petroleum and mining policies and completed my postgraduate law studies at the University of Dundee in Scotland. Following a year at the Commonwealth Economic and Legal Advisory Services in London, I returned to Namibia to work in government.
As a student of law and an active member of the liberation movement under the leadership of SWAPO [South West Africa People's Organization], I was fully versed with the United Nation Council for Namibia Decree prohibiting the exploitation of Namibia’s natural resources. I thought if I studied mining law, I would be able to fully understand the intricacies of the mining industry, and somehow become involved in enhancing its contribution to the national economic development agenda post independence.
Therefore, when choosing the field of specialization after completing my undergraduate degree, I chose mining law. I knew that Namibia was blessed with abundant natural resources, which we needed to fully harness. I believed that Namibia would need people with specialized skills and knowledge of this important sector and I was going to be part of them. At the time, I was thinking broadly about the sector in general and not necessarily the diamond sub sector. However, as director of mines, I started to get more involved with the implementation of accords that established the Namdeb joint venture and this kicked off my involvement with an incredibly exciting diamond pipeline. I have never looked back. It is an environmentally friendly, chemical free and caring industry featuring the characteristics of its end market – the diamond-buying women of the world.
What was the progress to your current position?
As indicated above, I previously worked as the director of mines in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, where I was responsible for regulating the mining industry to ensure that it complied with applicable Namibian laws and regulations. In that capacity, I was deeply involved with the formulation of new diamond policies that culminated in the promulgation of the Namibian Diamond Act of 1999. I was also attended the Namdeb board and various sub committees by invitation, and was responsible for ensuring compliance with various aspects of the Namdeb accords. The move to Namdeb was almost a natural next step.
 Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi |
My job entails ensuring that Namdeb fulfills its promise to its shareholders and stakeholders to be a cost effective and sustainable miner, with due consideration to the safety of our employees, and the environment. To do this, I have overall responsibility for strategic planning and execution of annual management plans and board directives. I have to ensure the effective and efficient management of the company resources and corporate governance. In this regard, I have to motivate and lead a team of more than 1,600 men and women in unskilled, semi-skilled and highly skilled positions, across a multiple spectrum of disciplines, such as mining, engineering, geology, finance and human resource.
Namdeb has been on a transformational journey for the last two years as it stands at a crossroads moving away from conventional mining to mining in more wetter and challenging areas requiring different methodologies to mine profitably and sustainably. In this regard, various components of Namdeb’s business such as health and safety management, mining and resource generation, resource protection and of course, support services are constantly seeking to improve performance and service delivery. This process is dynamic and requires constant change management. There is therefore no such thing as a ‘typical’ day in my role. Each day provides its own unique challenges and therefore one has to constantly adapt and recalibrating the plan as we move along this extraordinary and exciting transformational journey.
Notwithstanding, the highly competitive and increasingly less predictable environment, one has to have a plan to direct one’s actions and decisions. Therefore, our five year strategic plan is broken down into annual plans supported by the use of the balance scorecard management approach. It is this performance management tool that guide and direct my daily activities. In accordance with this, I spent a significant amount of my time on monitoring and evaluating progress against plan and where necessary devising new initiatives that will assist us in achieving our targets.
I spent a lot of time on sharing and communicating the company strategic direction to key stakeholders and the media in order to enhance greater understanding and appreciation of Namdeb strategic direction. In this day and age, where the war for talent has been heightened, I also spend time on people’s issues especially attraction, retention and ensuring there is a conducive environment for productive work. Though time consuming, these activities are the rewards at the end of the day when we deliver our targets, both in terms of production and zero harm to our employees is immeasurable.
What have your experiences been as a woman in a very “male-oriented” sector?
Mining is, for sure, still a very male-oriented environment, but things are slowly changing as more and more young women take up studies in technical fields. I have been fortunate to work with many experienced and dedicated men and women who understand that successful mining is about teamwork and not gender-based roles. We support one another – in the absolute knowledge that the whole is better than the sum of its parts. My experiences have been positive, and since being in my role, I’ve been most pleased to see young women entering the business in areas traditionally held by men – such as engineering, mining and geology. We have also deliberately recruited women into hitherto “no go male only roles” such as heavy earth moving equipment operators and bed rock cleaners.
Does this reflect the position of women in Namibia in general?
No. Sadly, in many respects women still find themselves on the periphery of society on many fronts. I would like to see women take up leadership roles, across, business, politics, government and academia – in numbers that will reflect the male/female ratio in society. This is particularly important in the African context, where women play a pivotal role in supporting households across our villages and in the urban areas. Every opportunity given to a woman, translates to immense benefits for the community from where she hails – as women generally plough back into their families, extended families and the communities.
How does Namdeb encourage women in the industry?
Namdeb has specifically targeted women for employment opportunities in traditionally male-held jobs, such as on the bedrock, engineering and geology. At Namdeb, we are unapologetic about targeted interventions that specifically promote women into jobs that were traditionally held by men. We give young girls scholarships to study at tertiary institutions and offer them on-the-job training opportunities. And, most importantly, as a woman myself, and being the CEO of the company, I probably give a disproportionate amount of time and attention to the recruitment of women and coaching female colleagues. Namdeb has indeed made strides in promoting women’s promotion into senior management such that out of the five member of the Namdeb Executive Committee, three are women as are three of the eight directors of the Namdeb board. We will continue to pursue gender balance in all our endeavors.
Do you think being female has either helped or hindered you?
I strongly believe my career progress fairly mirrors my achievements. The gender factor is largely irrelevant.
What would you say to/what advice would you give to other women looking get into the mining/exploration sector?
The world is now a much different place than 10 or 20 years ago. Barriers to entry into and fair opportunities in the mining industry are far less now for women today than in years gone by. Young girls and women of today owe it to history (women who have made sacrifices) to take full advantage of opportunities and make the best of them. There are today far broader opportunities available to women than only the nursing and teaching professions of yesteryear. Moreover, due to the women’s rights movement and advocates of gender equality across the globe and numerous researches proving that women are equally productive, more trustworthy and reliable employees, many employers are now turning to women to provide stability within the workplace. So opportunities are abundant but merit and hard work and positive attitude are still pre-requisite.
What has been the high point of your career so far?
The high point of my career to date is, without doubt, steering Namdeb through the worst global economic crisis of our time. We did this by mobilizing and motivating our employees to see a picture beyond the crisis. We had to take tough decisions to trim significant costs out of the business. In the process we had to bid farewell to many of our colleagues – which is always sad. We had to have tough, very tough conversations with our shareholders – which is never easy. In the end, we emerged stronger from the crisis – without a dollar of cash bail-out from our shareholders. Also, reaching 8,000 fatality free shifts was a very special moment for me. However, this has since been over-shadowed by the very tragic fatalities we had earlier in the year.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The diamond industry is a very exciting and rewarding sector for a woman to work in. After all, the target market of our unique product is women. It has been very rewarding and gratifying to be involved in the upstream of the diamond pipeline knowing that the product we mine is safe and much sought after by men and women across the globe. When I see women walk down the cat walk adorned by most beautiful diamond jewelry, I am filled with awe and admiration of the beauty of our product and how it enhances the look and feel of the person who wears it. This keeps us committed to seek more resources to mine and deliver to our marketing partner, DTC, so that they, in turn, can supply the needs of their clients – the DTC Sightholders.