Staff Writer
RMB Namibia Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Dempsey has been appointed FirstRand Namibia Group CEO Designate effective 1 July 2020 and will officially takeover reigns from Sarel van Zyl who retires on 30 September 2020.
“He brings a wealth of work experience from around the world as well as Africa and successfully has led and developed RMB into the most successful Corporate and Investment Bank in Namibia. He has an incredibly deep understanding of the group’s businesses and our culture and I know he will take FirstRand to even greater heights”, said Van Zyl.
“We have developed a strong core leadership team over the last 5 years, and I have complete confidence in the team I leave behind. I wish them well as they build on the solid foundations we achieved to date.”
FirstRand Namibia Board Chairperson, Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi said, “The Board is delighted to have appointed Conrad Dempsey as CEO: FirstRand Namibia. Before Conrad’s career in investment banking with RMB he worked in Europe, Australia, South America and across Africa in financial services and the natural resources sector. He filled a number of roles in M&A and corporate finance locally and internationally.”
“Conrad’s vision, energy, and commitment, is well-known in the market and the Board of Directors and I wish him well in his new role, while assuring him of our full support.”
A qualified Chartered Accountant, Global Chartered Management Accountant, Associate Corporate Treasurer who holds a Masters of Philosophy in Futures Studies, Dempsey takes over from Van Zyl, a veteran banker who has been at FNB Namibia, and subsequently the FNB Holdings Group, then FirstRand Namibia, for more than 38 years.
“From his early days in 1982 as a clerk in Okahandja branch to Chief Executive Officer of the most comprehensive end to end financial services group in Namibia, Van Zyl’s leadership tenure evidenced disciplined execution, strong leadership recruitment and the building of a profitable group of companies that ploughs back direct and indirect taxes into the market to the tune of nearly N$1 billion annually.”
“The group is thankful for Sarel’s energetic drive to introduce innovative customer-centric solutions such as E-Wallet and FNB Rewards, N$100 million in non-collateralised loans for SME’s, and for taking the leap into being the bank of the future through digitalisation and transformation, and increasing the group’s corporate social investment into the communities within which it operates. More than N$100 million were ploughed back into communities over the past 5 years through the FirstRand Foundation.”
Along with handing over his current role at FirstRand Namibia, Van Zyl has also relinquished his role as Chairman of the Bankers Association of Namibia.
