Tujoromajo Kasuto
TRUSTCO Group Holdings Limited has announced the appointment of Janene van den Heever to its main board as an independent non-executive director with effect from 1 November.
Trustco’s Spokesperson, Neville Basson, says van den Heever currently serves as the managing member of Cajaka Furniture Manufacturing in Windhoek. She gained extensive experience of more than 13 years in the corporate business environment before she embarked on her journey to establish a new business venture, Cajaka Furniture, in 2013, which she still manages.
Van den Heever started her career with Trustco in the early 2000s in Oshakati in the far north of Namibia. “From its very humble beginnings, the early entrepreneurial projects of Trustco hit the ground running. We starting off selling maize meal for the group at the time and it unlocked the spirit of entrepreneurship in me for sure. When the insurance business rose from its incubation period in the group, it challenged me beyond imagination,” she says.
With the insurance business being launched with a mere four employees at the time, the group grew rapidly to have a staff complement of nearly 100 employees working for Trustco under the watchful eye of van den Heever.
Eventually, she managed all the group’s regional offices and her success resulted in her being called to serve at executive level on the group executive in Windhoek. “The bright lights of Windhoek were never to my liking. I loved my stay, the people, and passion of the far north. But, I could simply not pass up on the opportunity to work side by side with the best that the group can offer, so I moved to Windhoek in 2007,” she says.
After six more years in the capital, honing her business skills, she decided it was time for her to set up her own business. “Trustco embraces a strong culture of self-determination and entrepreneurship. If you work side by side with the most brilliant people Namibia can offer, under the leadership of Dr van Rooyen, how can you not be inspired to strike out on your own?” she quizzes.
Upon leaving Trustco, she founded and since then operated Cajaka Furniture Manufacturing. She furthermore also served as a director on the boards of various other entities in Namibia.
In 2018, Janene was appointed as independent non-executive director to the financial services entities of Trustco. On the back of her valuable contributions to the boards of the financial services entities, the group’s nomination committee recommended her to serve as an independent non-executive director of Trustco.
Upon the announcement of van den Heever’s appointment as non-executive director, Trustco’s Chairperson, Raymond Heathcote, says the following, “Only the best, most innovative and greatly passionate, and also in particular in this instance on the back of a relationship of trust, is appointed to the Trustco board. I have no doubt as to the value of the contributions she’ll make to the board going forward.”
