Taking the banking world one step at a time

Born and bred in Windhoek, Sherman De Wee has one elder brother and three sisters. During his childhood, the only places he would be seen at would either be at home, school or church. “I believe even though our parents were strict, they always had our best interest at heart and always prayed for us to succeed in life,” he said.
In 2011 he relocated to Lüderitz where he met his wife in 2012. they got married in 2016, and had three children, now aged seven and five and the youngest who is only one month old.
This month marked seven years since De Wee, now the Bank Windhoek Aranos branch senior credit officer, arrived from Standard Bank at Bank Windhoek, where he took up the teller position at the Lüderitz service centre.
“During my time at Lüderitz, I tried my utmost best to diversify my skill set and not only do what was required but always go beyond the call of duty as a means of self-development. In 2016, I filled the vacant credit clerk position and also acted as officer in charge from October 2018 to February 2019.”
In July last year, De Wee was appointed as the senior credit Oofficer at the Aranos branch.
In this position De Wee is responsible for effective administrative management of credit facilities in compliance with the Bank’s credit policy and procedures and containment of credit risk. The key performance areas are sales focus, credit and collateral administration and management, including people management.
In this position De Wee plans on learning as much about the agricultural sector to best understand the needs of the clients and assisting accordingly.
He also wants to work on people management skills as well as identify areas in both the credit and administrative spheres in which he operates to upskill himself in line with the bank’s strategic plans.
A big accomplishment for De Wee was acting as officer in charge at the Lüderitz service centre and acting branch manager at Aranos branch, and being shortlisted and interviewed for three management positions at Bank Windhoek.
Not only were these accomplishments, but they came with the challenges which he overcame, because he strongly believes failure is not final and everyone is destined to succeed.
“Being in a near fatal car accident in October 2020 and soon after learning my mother had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in February 2021, which she succumbed to on the day before my birthday in March 2021, were some of the personal challenges that made me realise we need to appreciate our loved ones and it is extremely necessary to have an emotional support structure to help you get through these hardships,” he said.
Careers asked De Wee what advice he would give to aspiring youth and he said: “Having an inner circle of friends and family members you trust to offer the necessary social and emotional support needed to cope with the stress and challenges of life. No man is an island and we need one another. Heed the advice of the elders and be respectful and lastly take pride in what you do and remember, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”