Speakers

Shiwana is a Namibian business executive with 15 years of experience, including seven years at executive leadership level, spanning oil and gas, telecommunications, higher education, port operations, fishing, agri-processing and strategic advisory. 

He currently serves as Executive: Business Strategy at the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR), where he leads enterprise strategy, corporate performance, business planning, growth initiatives and organisational execution. His petroleum-sector experience includes supporting NAMCOR’s upstream positioning, portfolio strategy, commercial growth and long-term institutional capability development. 

During a period of significant institutional volatility, Shiwana was appointed Interim Managing Director of NAMCOR, where he led efforts to stabilise the organisation, restore stakeholder confidence and spearheaded the development of a corporate turnaround strategy. He has also led and supported complex commercial transactions, including initiatives involving the acquisition of oil and gas assets in international jurisdictions, often “holding the frying pan” in high-stakes negotiations where strategic judgement, commercial discipline and stakeholder alignment were critical. 

Shiwana currently serves as a Board Member of the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport), contributing to Namibia’s broader infrastructure and trade corridor strategy as the country positions itself to support a growing offshore energy industry. 

He has previously served on the boards or governing bodies of Telecom Namibia, the Meat Corporation of Namibia and the Namibia University of Science and Technology. He was also recently appointed as a member of the SWAPO Party Think Tank, a body established to contribute policy perspectives and strategic insight on national development issues. 

Shiwana holds an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Namibia, a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University. He has also completed certifications in Knowledge Management through the University of South Africa and Oil and Gas through the Premier Centre in London, and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in Oil and Gas Strategy at the University of Dundee. 

Shiwana is passionate about responsible petroleum development, strong institutions, effective governance and translating Namibia’s natural resource potential into sustainable economic and social value. 

I’d retain the quotation marks around “holding the frying pan”. It signals that it is a deliberate analogy and gives an otherwise formal conference bio a bit of character.