Paratus appoints new MD
Paratus delivers products and services to 22 African countries and has fully licensed and operational offices in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa.
30 November 2018 | Business
Pull Quote: “I am a firm believer in under-promising and over-delivering.”- Paratus MD, Andrew Hall.
Elizabeth Joseph
Andrew Hall was recently appointed as the new managing director at Paratus.
After matriculating from Moria Private School in Outjo, Hall joined and completed an apprenticeship programme at Telkom Ericsson, owned by the late Fritz Gluk.
He then completed a project management diploma course through Unisa. Hall has proven to himself over and over again that every obstacle serves as a stepping-stone to achieving ones dreams.
The timeline
Hall holds a B.Com degree with specialisation in entrepreneurship (cum laude), which he obtained from Unisa.
In 2010, Hall was appointed as the director of Vox Telecom Namibia, which was previously known as Orion.
In 2013, he was promoted to managing director at Vox Telecom, a position he held until 2015, when the company was acquired by Paratus.
“I was appointed as executive of operations at Paratus after the acquisition was completed. This gave my career a huge push,” Hall said.
Paratus CEO Barney Harmse said it is a great privilege and honour to announce Hall as the new MD.
“Like his predecessor, Andrew is also an excellent all-rounder and has many years’ of experience in the ICT game.”
Apart from his responsibilities at Paratus, Hall has also served on the executive committee of the Namibian Bass Angling Association for close to three years.
“I do this work pro bono and look after the public relations portfolio,” he said.
The new seat
Hall has hit the ground running, as the company operates in a fast-paced industry. He said every day brings new opportunities as well as challenges, yet the experience is extremely rewarding.
"I have occupied this position for only a short time and thus do not have any personal achievements to share, but Paratus has had some significant accomplishments during this past year.
“We have installed and commissioned our very own in-country V-Sat hub, providing a true Namibian flavoured product. We have also built and commissioned our own fibre all the way from Swakopmund to Buitepos, supplying the West Africa Cable System (WACS) which is a submarine communications cable capacity into sub-Saharan Africa.
“This in turn has enabled us to significantly drop our data rates, causing disruption in the market when we introduced the N$15 per gig price,” Hall said.
A day in the office
“Our open plan office layout allows me to sit at different desks amongst different teams. This enables me to interact with the different teams and keep my finger on the pulse of the operation. Customer services is one of my passions and I also spend a lot of time with one-on-one customer interactions,” Hall said, adding he enjoys getting to work with everyone.
When it comes to the company, he is most proud of being a part of a diverse and forward-thinking team.
“The drive and passion of the people is contagious. Paratus is a Namibian-owned organisation and believes in supporting the Namibian economy by making use of local businesses wherever possible. We all share the same love and patriotism for our country and I see it as an enormous accomplishment to have the Paratus Group head office in Namibia, which has operations across southern Africa,” he added.
Paratus already delivers products and services to 22 African countries and has fully licensed and operational offices in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa.
The next few years
Hall’s goals include seeing the company own its own infrastructure, as this is what the company hopes to see happen in the next few years.
“This is the key to our future success and we will continue investing in Namibia for years to come. We plan to invest a total of more than N$150 million on infrastructure in Namibia over the next three years, of which N$100 million will be invested in fibre infrastructure.
“Our second point of focus is our customers. We continue to develop and invest in our business processes and systems to enhance our customer experience. We pride ourselves in our customer service and are always looking for ways and means to improve on this,” Hall added.
Andrew Hall fact box
He was born in Swakopmund.
He is fluent in three languages.
He started his schooling in Khorixas.
He has been the telecommunications industry for 18 years.
He is a very enthusiastic angler and has represented Namibia at different international events.
He is passionate about music.
Andrew Hall was recently appointed as the new managing director at Paratus.
After matriculating from Moria Private School in Outjo, Hall joined and completed an apprenticeship programme at Telkom Ericsson, owned by the late Fritz Gluk.
He then completed a project management diploma course through Unisa. Hall has proven to himself over and over again that every obstacle serves as a stepping-stone to achieving ones dreams.
The timeline
Hall holds a B.Com degree with specialisation in entrepreneurship (cum laude), which he obtained from Unisa.
In 2010, Hall was appointed as the director of Vox Telecom Namibia, which was previously known as Orion.
In 2013, he was promoted to managing director at Vox Telecom, a position he held until 2015, when the company was acquired by Paratus.
“I was appointed as executive of operations at Paratus after the acquisition was completed. This gave my career a huge push,” Hall said.
Paratus CEO Barney Harmse said it is a great privilege and honour to announce Hall as the new MD.
“Like his predecessor, Andrew is also an excellent all-rounder and has many years’ of experience in the ICT game.”
Apart from his responsibilities at Paratus, Hall has also served on the executive committee of the Namibian Bass Angling Association for close to three years.
“I do this work pro bono and look after the public relations portfolio,” he said.
The new seat
Hall has hit the ground running, as the company operates in a fast-paced industry. He said every day brings new opportunities as well as challenges, yet the experience is extremely rewarding.
"I have occupied this position for only a short time and thus do not have any personal achievements to share, but Paratus has had some significant accomplishments during this past year.
“We have installed and commissioned our very own in-country V-Sat hub, providing a true Namibian flavoured product. We have also built and commissioned our own fibre all the way from Swakopmund to Buitepos, supplying the West Africa Cable System (WACS) which is a submarine communications cable capacity into sub-Saharan Africa.
“This in turn has enabled us to significantly drop our data rates, causing disruption in the market when we introduced the N$15 per gig price,” Hall said.
A day in the office
“Our open plan office layout allows me to sit at different desks amongst different teams. This enables me to interact with the different teams and keep my finger on the pulse of the operation. Customer services is one of my passions and I also spend a lot of time with one-on-one customer interactions,” Hall said, adding he enjoys getting to work with everyone.
When it comes to the company, he is most proud of being a part of a diverse and forward-thinking team.
“The drive and passion of the people is contagious. Paratus is a Namibian-owned organisation and believes in supporting the Namibian economy by making use of local businesses wherever possible. We all share the same love and patriotism for our country and I see it as an enormous accomplishment to have the Paratus Group head office in Namibia, which has operations across southern Africa,” he added.
Paratus already delivers products and services to 22 African countries and has fully licensed and operational offices in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa.
The next few years
Hall’s goals include seeing the company own its own infrastructure, as this is what the company hopes to see happen in the next few years.
“This is the key to our future success and we will continue investing in Namibia for years to come. We plan to invest a total of more than N$150 million on infrastructure in Namibia over the next three years, of which N$100 million will be invested in fibre infrastructure.
“Our second point of focus is our customers. We continue to develop and invest in our business processes and systems to enhance our customer experience. We pride ourselves in our customer service and are always looking for ways and means to improve on this,” Hall added.
Andrew Hall fact box
He was born in Swakopmund.
He is fluent in three languages.
He started his schooling in Khorixas.
He has been the telecommunications industry for 18 years.
He is a very enthusiastic angler and has represented Namibia at different international events.
He is passionate about music.
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