Iipumbu Wendelinus Shiimi is a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n economist who has been the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

since 2020. Before that, he served as governor of the

Bank of Namibia The Bank of Namibia (BoN) is the central bank of Namibia, whose establishment is enshrined in Article 128 of the Namibian Constitution. It is located in the capital city of Windhoek. The Bank of Namibia was established in 1990 by the ''Bank of Nam ...

from 2010 until 2020.

Early life and education

Shiimi holds a Master of Science degree in Financial Economics (1998), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics (Economic Principles) from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He also holds a Diploma in Foreign Trade and Management from the

Maastricht School of Management The Maastricht School of Management (MSM) is a management school in Maastricht, the Netherlands. From 1 September 2022 MSM is part of the School of Business and Economics (SBE) of Maastricht University. MSM's activities in the fields of education ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, an Honours degree in Economics from the

University of Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other uni ...

in South Africa and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Economics and Accounting from the

. He underwent specialised training in Management from

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and

Wits Business School The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

as well as other specialised training in economics and finance in Tanzania and USA, as well as at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

and

Reserve Bank of South Africa The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...

Career

Shiimi started working at the Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in 1994. He joined the

as a Senior Researcher in the Research Department and became a Manager of the Economics Division in the same department in 1997. In 1999, he became Manager of the Modelling and Forecasting Division in the Research Department. In 2000, he took over as Manager of Statistics Division in the Research Department. In 2001, he became the Deputy Head of Research Department and in 2002 he became Chief Economist and Head of Research Department. In June 2006, Shiimi became a Senior Manager in the Banking Supervision Department until his appointment in November 2006 as Assistant Governor. In this role he was responsible for providing strategic direction to the operations of the Bank which included managing foreign exchange reserves, banking supervision, economic stability and financial monitoring. Shiimi was appointed as a new central bank chief on March 25, 2010, by President

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was ...

. He took over from

Tom Alweendo Thomas Kavaningilamo Alweendo (born 17 March 1958 in Omusheshe, Oshana Region) is a Namibian politician who has been Minister of Mines and Energy since 2018. In 1997, he became the first Namibian Governor of the Bank of Namibia when he replaced ...

, who was appointed Director-General of the Namibian National Planning Commission and later Minister of Mines and Energy. President

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 ...

re-appointed him to a second term in December 2016.

Other activities

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

(IMF), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2010–2020) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2010–2020)Board of Governors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiimi, Iipumbu Living people Finance ministers of Namibia Governors of the Bank of Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) SWAPO politicians 1970 births Government ministers of Namibia 21st-century Namibian politicians People from Omusati Region