Investment Committee

Chairperson Diina is an Economist at the Bank of Namibia, in the Financial Markets Department. She gained extensive knowledge and experience in the commercial and central Banking environment, having worked for both for FNB Namibia and held various positions in the Bank of Namibia. She holds a BCom in Financial Economics and Investment Management (Hons) and a BTech in Economics.

Chairperson

Gavin Frey is a seasoned financial services executive with over fifteen years of progressive leadership experience spanning audit and taxation, alternative asset management, investment banking, and impact investing across Southern Africa. A Chartered Accountant — CA (SA) (NAM) — and holder of a Master of Business Administration from Stellenbosch University.

Gavin commenced his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he progressed from Audit Associate to Manager in Indirect Tax Services, developing deep technical expertise across both assurance and tax disciplines within the financial services sector. His audit portfolio included prominent institutions such as Standard Bank of Namibia, Bank of Namibia, and Bank Windhoek, establishing a strong foundation in financial governance, regulatory compliance, and risk management.

Gavin broadened his expertise into capital markets through a progression that spanned alternative asset management at Old Mutual Investment Group Namibia, where he gained fluency in private markets, real estate, and infrastructure, before advancing into investment banking at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Namibia, where he was actively involved in the origination, structuring, and execution of complex transactions. He was subsequently appointed Head of Investment Banking at Bank Windhoek, leading the division's strategic growth, business development, and transaction execution.

Since September 2021, Gavin has served as Chief Executive Officer at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, overseeing operations across Namibia, Botswana, and Eswatini. In this capacity, he has channelled his broad financial expertise toward purpose-driven investment and entrepreneurial development — bridging commercial finance with measurable developmental impact. His work reflects a commitment to building sustainable enterprises that generate lasting economic and social value across the region.

ChairpersonChairpersonAdvisor

Nigel Purse, who has an MA from Oxford University and an MBA from City University, London, has over 30 years of experience in executing project finance lending, advisory and investment mandates in 5 continents and 20 different countries on a wide range of sectors such as energy, roads, railways, airports, accommodation, Public Private Partnerships and telecoms. Nigel has completed over 100 different project finance mandates which represent a total financing in excess of €50 billion.

Nigel used to work for the world’s largest toll road operator, Autostrade, and formerly led the transport project finance team at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was the Head of Project Finance and Executive Board Member at Espirito Santo Investment (now Haitong) and sat on the investment committees of two infrastructure funds, the Espirito Santo Infrastructure Fund and the Fondo PPP Italia, and was a founder Director of Tagus Infrastructure Assets, the manager of a UK secondary market PPP fund.

He went on to be a Founding Partner of Eaglestone, the African advisory and principal investment business. Latterly, Nigel was a founder of Climate Fund Managers which manages the Climate Investor One and Two climate impact funds.

Member Arnold, the CEO of Agra Limited, is an Agri-sector leader with extensive experience in agribusiness turnarounds. He holds an Agricultural Economics degree from the University of Stellenbosch. Arnold has 28 years of working experience in Namibia’s agricultural sector, with 21 years at a senior management level. He has a great passion for agribusiness and a high standard of business ethics.

Member Maano Naamejo Nepembe is a finance and development finance expert with extensive experience in financial markets, economic research, and development finance. She served in key roles at the Bank of Namibia and the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) for over 18 years.
Currently, she is the Manager for Research and Product Development at DBN, where she oversees economic sector analysis, product innovation, and development impact assessment. Previously, she worked as the Senior Economist: Money and Capital Markets at the Bank of Namibia, leading government securities issuances, debt management, and market intelligence.
Ms. Nepembe holds an LLB from the University of South Africa, a Master’s in Commerce from Stellenbosch University, and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Namibia. She is a registered candidate legal practitioner and has specialized training in climate finance, impact investment, and development finance.

Member Sam has experience in private equity, investment banking, and strategy consulting. Prior to joining Gateway, he worked at Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), involved in the execution, portfolio management and origination of PE transactions across Sub-Saharan Africa. Before ECP, he was in Rand Merchant Bank’s Corporate Finance team, executing M&A and equity capital market transactions for private equity and mining clients. Sam started his career at Bain & Company, working on private equity due diligence and strategy cases for international clients. He has an MBA from the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School (selected as the Oxford Dean’s Scholar) and a Bachelor of Business Science in Finance (Hons) from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Member

Valeria Mbango is a results-driven executive with extensive experience at the intersection of financial services, engineering, innovation, and digital transformation. She holds a BEng in Industrial Engineering from Stellenbosch University, an MEng in Project Management from the University of Pretoria, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Futures Studies (Strategic Foresight) from Stellenbosch University Business School (USB).

With a proven track record in shaping organisational strategy and leading large-scale initiatives, Valeria brings expertise in digital transformation, process optimisation, systems thinking, governance, and risk management. She has successfully driven transformative programmes across payments, innovation, digital transformation, and operational modernisation, embedding robust governance, compliance, and risk frameworks throughout.

Valeria has extensive experience driving organisational change, improving operational efficiency, and delivering measurable business outcomes through process re-engineering, automation, and effective team leadership. She has served on management and executive committees, as well as boards, providing strategic oversight, financial governance, and risk management across diverse sectors.

Member

BComm Financial Management | HDip Taxation | Advanced Diploma VAT | Financial Planning (CFP (to be reinstated))

Chanelle Isaaks is a seasoned financial services professional with more than 15 years of experience across reward management, taxation, payroll consulting, wealth management, financial management and regulatory compliance. Her career includes roles at First National Bank Namibia, Standard Bank Namibia, BDO Chartered Accountants, Retirement Fund Solutions and PwC.

She brings a multidisciplinary perspective, combining technical knowledge in finance, tax and reward with practical experience in governance, compliance and stakeholder management. This breadth of experience enables her to assess matters with a balanced appreciation of financial sustainability, risk, people impact and long-term value creation.

Chanelle holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Management from Stellenbosch University, a Higher Diploma in Taxation and a Higher Diploma in Value-Added Tax from the University of South Africa, as well as a a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning from the University of the Free State.

She is committed to sound governance, disciplined oversight and responsible decision-making that supports sustainable growth and stakeholder value. Her professional background positions her to contribute meaningfully to strategic discussions, investment evaluation and oversight responsibilities.

Member

Mildy is the Managing Director of ONIX Business Solutions for the past 10 years. She holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and has sat on the boards of financial services, manufacturing, and technology companies. She is also a Trustee of the Crayton Foundation. Mildy has extensive experience in financial management and business development, particularly within the technology sector.