FISHCOR appoints Gawanab as new CEO
The temporary Board of the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (FISHCOR) has appointed Alex Gawanab as their new Chief Executive. His appointment is effective from 10 January 2022 and is set for a five-year term.
Gawanab said he is delighted and at the same time challenged to have been accorded this opportunity to serve the company and the fishing industry in this role.
“It is common knowledge that significant damage was done to the reputation of the company and the industry in general, therefore we are called upon to prudently intervene and reverse the adverse effects thereof,” he added.
He said he will apply himself diligently to ensure they deliver on the mandate set before them and he is under no illusion that the task will be a walk in the park, but with a dedicated team, focus on the task at hand and apply strict governance principles and financial disciple, it can be done.
“We can restore FISCHOR to where it belongs, to be a leader in catching, processing and marketing of the Namibian fish products in the local and international markets,” he emphasised.
The Board of staff looks forward to welcoming Gawanab to the team and wish him well in delivering on the mandate and steering the company to greater heights.
Gawanab holds a Master of Business Management and Administration (MBA) Degree from the University of Stellenbosch as well as a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town. He has completed an Executive Development Programme (EDP) from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)at the University of Pretoria. He is also a holder of an advanced certificate in Integrated Water Resources Management from Lund University, Malmo, Sweden.
His academic qualifications, complemented by the extensive corporate and leadership experience which he has gathered over 26 years in the mining, and water utility sectors, starting with Namdeb, Namwater, Debmarine Namibia, NamGem and Swakop Uranium (Husab)Mine, where he managed the metallurgical operations, diamond cutting and polishing, water extraction and supply and business improvement functions amongst other portfolios, places him in very strong stead to steer the FISHCOR ship over the coming years.
Previous to this appointment, Gawanab was the Senior Project Manager for Business Transformation at Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb since 2019, where he oversaw transformational and business improvement projects.
He is also widely experienced and regarded in the mining sector as a transformational business leader. He has been serving as Director on the boards of Debmarine Namibia and Namdeb Holdings since 2015, with a recent reappointment on the Namdeb Holding and Namdeb (Pty) Ltd boards, respectively. He is currently the Chairperson of the Board Audit Committee for the Namdeb Holding Company.
