Joseph Mwatukange, CX administrator at Old Mutual.Photo: Contributed
Joseph Mwatukange, CX administrator at Old Mutual.Photo: Contributed

Overachiever Mwatukange takes on Old Mutual

"My primary responsibility as a customer experience administrator is to analyse data gathered by the organisation from both internal and external sources in order to learn more about our clients' preferences and behaviour."
Joseph Mwatukange was recently appointed as the new CX administrator at Old Mutual, and his appointment was a foregone conclusion given his impressive resume.
Rita Kakelo
Joseph Mwatukange is from Engela, a small town in the Ohangwena Region. The town that birthed Namibia's very own Einstein. He went to Weyulu Primary School, where he learnt how to correctly spell his name. He then went on to Ongha Secondary School, where he was dubbed one of those "scientific stream nerds".



Background

His academic achievements include majoring in physics and minoring in geology at the University of Namibia (Unam) from 2013 to 2016. He was so taken with it that he returned to the university to pursue a master's degree in renewable energy. Mwatukange's dissertation focused on manganese-iron oxide materials for thermochemical energy storage.

Meanwhile, Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) operates a radio astronomy basic training programme in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. Each year, 10 physics or other relevant discipline graduates from each country receive basic radio astronomy training delivered in four intensive, two-week units. Mwatukange was chosen to take part. And thanks to DARA's financial assistance, he now has a United Kingdom-based research master's degree in astronomy and astrophysics from an advanced programme.

Thereafter, he worked for the City of Windhoek as a hydrologist and data scientist intern, where I assisted in the collection and monitoring of underground water usage in the aquifer that surrounds Windhoek, as well as dabbling in software development as a junior developer at Colab Technical College in Walvis Bay after that.

"My thesis' use of machine learning from the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to investigate star formation was out of this world," he said.

If that wasn't enough, he and one of his friends spent time developing a platform to automatically translate texts from Oshindonga to English.



Call of duty

Mwatukange has a demanding job that necessitates considerable skill. "My primary responsibility as a customer experience administrator is to analyse data gathered by the organisation from both internal and external sources in order to learn more about our clients' preferences and behaviour," he said. This enables the company to provide the best services and experiences to customers. He spends his days in front of a computer, writing scripts to automate tasks, creating user-friendly dashboards to display data, and creating reports.

"Since I started, the numerous discoveries I have uncovered through my data analysis have captivated me."

Challenges at work are a part and parcel of professional life, and one of the most difficult aspects of Mwatukange’s job is feeling pressure to make an immediate impact on his department and the firm as a whole.

Second, the complex phrases and acronyms used in financial and insurance terminology can be difficult to understand. Nonetheless, he sees this as motivation to learn as much as possible and keep up with his colleagues, he said.

“When I'm not buried in the world of analysis, I enjoy watching football. To unwind, I enjoy playing video games and watching football. When I am feeling fancy, I like to experiment in the kitchen, but let's just say my culinary skills are still developing. Anyone who is brave enough to try my food will receive a free stomach pump!” Mwatukange said with a laugh.

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Namibian Sun 2024-05-10

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Katima Mulilo: 13° | 33° Rundu: 13° | 33° Eenhana: 14° | 34° Oshakati: 16° | 33° Ruacana: 17° | 34° Tsumeb: 17° | 31° Otjiwarongo: 15° | 31° Omaruru: 18° | 32° Windhoek: 16° | 28° Gobabis: 16° | 30° Henties Bay: 14° | 20° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:44, High tide: 04:42, Low Tide: 22:59, High tide: 17:11 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 31km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:42, High tide: 04:40, Low Tide: 22:57, High tide: 17:09 Walvis Bay: 16° | 23° Wind speed: 36km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:42, High tide: 04:39, Low Tide: 22:57, High tide: 17:08 Rehoboth: 16° | 29° Mariental: 18° | 30° Keetmanshoop: 13° | 29° Aranos: 18° | 30° Lüderitz: 13° | 27° Ariamsvlei: 10° | 25° Oranjemund: 13° | 20° Luanda: 25° | 28° Gaborone: 15° | 31° Lubumbashi: 14° | 30° Mbabane: 16° | 25° Maseru: 11° | 25° Antananarivo: 13° | 23° Lilongwe: 16° | 28° Maputo: 18° | 29° Windhoek: 16° | 28° Cape Town: 13° | 17° Durban: 19° | 24° Johannesburg: 17° | 26° Dar es Salaam: 23° | 31° Lusaka: 17° | 30° Harare: 14° | 28° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.03 | EUR to NAD 19.83 | CNY to NAD 2.55 | USD to NAD 18.43 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.31 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.66 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.58 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 134.06 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.6 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1439.8 | USD to ZAR 18.42 | USD to ZMW 26.75 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 77539.13 Up +0.47% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1733.43 Up +1.10% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13478.23 Up +0.44% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26003.16 Up +0.05% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 367.90/OZ UP +0.91% | Copper US$ 4.62/lb UP +1.22% | Zinc US$ 2 961.00/T DOWN -0.06% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 83.30/BBP DOWN -0.0162 | Platinum US$ 997.98/OZ UP +1.29% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 13° | 33° Rundu: 13° | 33° Eenhana: 14° | 34° Oshakati: 16° | 33° Ruacana: 17° | 34° Tsumeb: 17° | 31° Otjiwarongo: 15° | 31° Omaruru: 18° | 32° Windhoek: 16° | 28° Gobabis: 16° | 30° Henties Bay: 14° | 20° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:44, High tide: 04:42, Low Tide: 22:59, High tide: 17:11 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 31km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:42, High tide: 04:40, Low Tide: 22:57, High tide: 17:09 Walvis Bay: 16° | 23° Wind speed: 36km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:42, High tide: 04:39, Low Tide: 22:57, High tide: 17:08 Rehoboth: 16° | 29° Mariental: 18° | 30° Keetmanshoop: 13° | 29° Aranos: 18° | 30° Lüderitz: 13° | 27° Ariamsvlei: 10° | 25° Oranjemund: 13° | 20° Luanda: 25° | 28° Gaborone: 15° | 31° Lubumbashi: 14° | 30° Mbabane: 16° | 25° Maseru: 11° | 25° Antananarivo: 13° | 23° Lilongwe: 16° | 28° Maputo: 18° | 29° Windhoek: 16° | 28° Cape Town: 13° | 17° Durban: 19° | 24° Johannesburg: 17° | 26° Dar es Salaam: 23° | 31° Lusaka: 17° | 30° Harare: 14° | 28° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.03 | EUR to NAD 19.83 | CNY to NAD 2.55 | USD to NAD 18.43 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.31 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.66 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.58 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 134.06 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.6 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1439.8 | USD to ZAR 18.42 | USD to ZMW 26.75 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 77539.13 Up +0.47% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1733.43 Up +1.10% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13478.23 Up +0.44% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26003.16 Up +0.05% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 367.90/OZ UP +0.91% | Copper US$ 4.62/lb UP +1.22% | Zinc US$ 2 961.00/T DOWN -0.06% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 83.30/BBP DOWN -0.0162 | Platinum US$ 997.98/OZ UP +1.29%