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20 January 2022 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied
Merceline Mercia Geises, Chief Executive: Standard Bank Namibia.

Her father belonged to a "book club, used to order books and encyclopaedias, and would at times order special gifts for her mother". The daughter of a school principal, Mercia Geises, developed a love for reading at a young age. A trip to the Post Office "provided a connection to the rest of the world".

Growing up in Kalkfeld, a small village in central Namibia, Mercia, her father’s “most trusted child”, saw herself fulfilling messenger duties, sending money to siblings at boarding schools. When the youngest of seven children herself enrolled at a boarding school, the love relationship with the world outside and what it offers continued; more so with "heart-warming letters and a R2 note" from her father every now and then.

Mercia, an alumnus of the University of the Free State and current Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Namibia, says her runs to the Post Office and bank made her believe there must be a big world out there; one where Post Office deliveries are made, and money is printed. With dreams to see life outside her village, opportunity beckoned with studies at the UFS.

Carving her destiny 

In matric, with all her peers destined for varsities in South Africa, an aspiration she too had, Mercia found a career guide in a Life Skills classroom. She "scanned through it, jotted down details", and made her way to the Post Office only this time to "carve her own path ignoring everyone’s limited view of the world".

She got accepted at the UFS, an institution which became a home away from home getting mentored by among others Professor Johan Henning, Professor Voet du Plessis, Professor Elizabeth Snyman-Van Deventer, Professor Johan van Schalkwyk, and Professor Gerhard Fjik to complete her LLB Degree (cum laude) and LLM in Mercantile Law.

Her biggest dream, Mercia says, “I always wanted to work for Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Attorneys in Cape Town, but because I was sponsored for my studies by the Namibia Power Corporation I had to go back and work in Namibia.”

“I got an opportunity to work for one of the biggest law firms, M. Slabbert Attorneys and completed my articles, an opportunity I am forever grateful for,” she says.

After completing her articles, Mercia fell pregnant and the biggest motivation for applying for a corporate job was driven by the "need to deliver her baby at a private hospital and having a medical aid".

Seeing a job advert at Old Mutual Namibia in a local newspaper and knowing that she did not meet the requirements, Mercia was called for a junior role, leading her to discover corporate finance and asset management.

Working for Old Mutual for 12 years and obtaining an MBA from Stellenbosch University, Mercia credits the leadership for investing significantly in her growth and development.

Whilst at Old Mutual Investment Group in Namibia as the Chief Executive, Mercia saw a growth opportunity at Standard Bank, Namibia’s leading retail banking franchise and she took a “leap of faith”.

Holding high positions in corporates during her tenure Mercia believes ‘Old Mutual Namibia was the best incubation centre for many young women and the organisational culture was conducive to thrive.’

She says, “We were exposed to leadership that believed in increasing women roles in leadership and business strategy which meant that we were entrusted with big and bold mandates and were provided with necessary mentorship.”

Mercia believes that “working in an environment like this is extremely beneficial, but like all things in life, the other side of it is that it comes with sacrifices, some of which can be costly if one does not have the right support”.

The role of tertiary institutions 

“Tertiary institutions also play the biggest role in upliftment and how we think about things. It has surely taken me from rural Namibia to the world stage, whereas a young executive I could engage in complex issues in boardrooms across the world. I still find my engagements in executive development programmes with institutions of higher learning to be ones that provide me with the edge to lead effectively,” she says.

On challenges facing the banking industry in the continent, Mercia says, “Traditional banks are finding it hard to penetrate the unbanked population who leapfrogs the banking step and participates in the mainstream economy through mobile operators. Accelerating digital capabilities has become a top strategic priority for the banking sector, more so during the pandemic.” She says, “Regulatory authorities have a critical role to play in making this happen, as they are needed to continue to promote innovation while keeping their checks and balances.” 

In her leisure time, Mercia puts her focus on her three children, the youngest of which is two months old. She has an interest in agricultural technology and has a small piece of land where she experiments with various intensive farming concepts.

News Archive

Record number of students to graduate at UFS
2017-06-19

Description: Day 2 Mid-year Graduation Bloemfontein Campus Tags: Day 2 Mid-year Graduation Bloemfontein Campus

Eleven graduation ceremonies will form part of the
mid-year graduation ceremonies at the
University of the Free State.
Photo: Charl Devenish

Livestream of Graduation Ceremonies

Six days, eleven ceremonies, and more than 5 000 degrees. This all forms part of what is the biggest set of graduation ceremonies in the history of the University of the Free State (UFS).

The mid-year graduation ceremonies, taking place from 19 to 26 June 2017 in the Callie Human Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus, will see the most students graduate during a week. A total of 5 258 degrees, which includes 460 master’s and doctoral degrees, will be conferred – including 72 doctoral degrees.

First graduation ceremonies for Prof Petersen
It will also be the first ceremonies that Prof Francis Petersen, new Rector and Vice-Chancellor, attends on the Bloemfontein Campus. Students from all seven faculties, as well as the South Campus, will graduate.

Graduates per faculty are (without master’s and doctoral degrees): Faculty of Education (488), Faculty of Health Sciences (345), Faculty of Theology (29), Faculty of Law (686), Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (1 029), Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (1 044), Faculty of the Humanities (826), and the South Campus (354).

Guest speakers include three judges
Guest speakers for the ceremonies include Dipiloane Phutsisi, Principal and Chief Executive Officer of the Motheo TVET College in the Free State, Dr Susan Vosloo, UFS Council member and founder member of the World Society for Paediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, and Prof Petersen.

Three judges will also act as speakers. They are Justice Ian van der Merwe, Judge of Appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal and former Chair of the UFS Council, Justice Mahube Molemela, Judge President of the Free State Division of the High Court and Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of South Africa, and Justice Connie Mocumie, Judge of Appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Graduations ceremonies:

19 June 2017:
09:00: Faculty of Education, except educational qualifications in Open Distance Learning –  South Campus
14:30: Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Theology and Faculty of Law (including the School of Financial Planning Law)

20 June 2017:
09:00: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: All Bachelor’s degrees
14:30: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: All Diplomas and Bachelor Honours degrees

21 June 2017:
09:00: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences: All Certificates, Diplomas, Bachelor’s degrees and Bachelor Honours degrees, excluding BCom degrees
14:30: Faculty of the Humanities: Social Sciences and Communication Sciences only

22 June 2017:
09:00: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences: BCom degrees only
14:30: Faculty of the Humanities: All qualifications except Social Sciences and Communication Sciences

23 June 2017:
14:30: Educational qualifications in Open Distance Learning – South Campus

26 June 2017:
09:00: All faculties except the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: Master’s and Doctoral degrees
14:30: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: Master’s and Doctoral degrees


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