Building a bigger future for Paratus

Gert Duvenhage leads the team in building a bigger future for Paratus. Proudly Namibian, Gert Duvenhage was born in Outjo and schooled in Windhoek and completed his tertiary studies at the University of Pretoria where he specialised in engineering and electronics. Even though he was always intrigued by electronics, it never occurred to him that he would become a shareholder of a very successful pan-African telecommunications company, Paratus.

Duvenhage is part of the Executive: Infrastructure & ICT Operations at Paratus Namibia. His track record is not just impressive, it is seriously meteoric. Having worked across the telecoms sector for some of the biggest players, his knowledge of the industry is unrivalled. He worked for Telkom SA in 1992, concentrating mainly on technical strategies and then for Telecom Namibia where his focus was predominantly on infrastructure roll-out and transmission. He believes that the experience he gained over that period has helped build the foundation of his knowledge which he then brought to Paratus when he joined them in 2015. This knowledge enabled him to recognise that faults and errors can be avoided from the start by doing things differently, which in turn helps to get the job done quicker and helps Paratus to stay ahead of the curve.

Gert loves building things, and this translates into his work – whether it’s the Trans-Kalahari network or building a great team of motivated people. On the front line of Paratus operations, Gert is always hands-on in guiding his team from the strategic planning stages to achieving the end goal.

Gert says: “I have been in the trenches and will get back into them if my team needs me to carry them over the finish line. We all respect each other and with that mutual respect and trust I will lead my team to achieve great things for themselves and Paratus.”

Gert sees the future with clarity and makes it a reality. He relishes the fact that Paratus can only go from strength to strength and that the sky’s the limit. He is sociable and believes fervently in balancing hard work equally with some hard playtime. While he would like to take time to be with his family by the sea, he knows he would quickly be yearning for the challenge to create something new for the business.

He is excited about moving Paratus forward without limits and he thinks big in terms of unleashing the full potential of Paratus to become an even bigger telecommunications company in Africa.

Characteristics

· He is committed and has the vision to take Paratus to the next level of excellence.

· He is supremely qualified to make the Paratus vision become a reality.

· As a man who loves woodwork, he is block-builder by nature.

· Respectful and a great team builder.

· He identifies with Elon Musk because he admires his ability to disrupt and make things happen with no shackles.

· Dedicated to his work and proud of where Paratus is today.

· Dedicated to his family, his wife and two daughters.

· Believes in living a balanced life.

· He most admires his father who has been a large influence in his life.