Leading in humility

Wetumwene Shikage





Ester Kali’s educational background includes an MBA (specialising in general and strategic management) from the Maastricht School of Management; thesis topic on the assessment of customer satisfaction with the delivery through the branch network; a case of First National Bank of Namibia and Financial Services Advanced Diploma – Institute of Bankers in South Africa. She says that serving in this position for over five years has been the most rewarding and challenging task at the same time which still gives her joy as she navigates through her journey and career aspirations.

Some of the accomplishments she has achieved are: being able to successfully lead a team in order to obtain a banking licence which listed Letshego Namibia Holdings on the Namibia Stock Exchange in 2017; launching the bank’s first product in 2018; becoming the president of Bankers Association of Namibia (BAN) in 2020/2021 stepping into the big shoes of Sarel van Zyl; steering the appointment of the Bankers Association of Namibia CEO and being instrumental in the establishment of the BAN office.

“In the next two years I plan on expanding my literature through books, specifically in the digitisation and enterprise agility field. It is always important to expand knowledge even though you may feel that you have achieved great heights academically. I also intend on shaping the charity projects that I am involved with and dedicating more time to see it grow bigger than what it is,” Kali says.

A typical day for her starts with prayer and establishing a positive state of mind to get her through the day. “As much as I am driven by my work, I equally make time for my family. I’m a hands-on mother and always prepare our dinners. Fitness finds its way into my diary and I take time to wind down my day by writing down what I am grateful for. Weekends are for baking and watching movies with the family,” she says.

She loves keeping herself busy. “One of the facts about me are that I’ve had a sewing machine but never used it. Thankfully, due to lockdown I realised my talent at sewing.”

She gets inspiration from other women in leading positions at various institutions. “Women can learn so much from each other and I admire those women that need to juggle with so many hats and that make it seem so effortlessly done,” she said.

Kali says her childhood days were punctuated with challenges such as going to school without shoes, sometimes in the freezing Otjiwarongo winter, having one meal a day was not uncommon to her, studying at night was a mission as they had to share a candle because there was no electricity.

“By virtue of being the eldest child, I naturally felt the burden of responsibility to assist my mother financially. My mother providing for our family as a single, strong, independent woman and managing to rise above the rest and not depending on anyone is my best childhood memory. Her hard work will always be admired and there are too many memories but each one links to my mother,” she says.



10 Facts about Kali

· Godfearing

· Go-getter

· Loving

· Friendly

· Loyal

· Loves baking (especially Sourdough bread)

· Started sewing recently, when the pandemic broke out

· Started a garden at home

· Involved with various charity drives

· Loves sharing her time through public talks to share her knowledge and experience.