From May 23, Mobolaji Balogun, assumes duty as new chairman of the board of directors Lafarge Africa Plc after the voluntary retirement of Olusegun Osunkeye. Balogun said he is honored to be appointed as the new chairman and to have the privilege to succeed Osunkeye. “Osunkeye has been a tremendous leader of the Company whose experience and capacity has overseen the emergence of Lafarge Africa from the origins of the Lafarge Wapco business. Lafarge Africa occupies a unique position and I will take over from Chief Osunkeye at an exciting time and I am grateful to him for the stewardship he has provided to Lafarge Africa. I also look forward to working with Guillaume Roux and the entire Board of Lafarge Africa as we move the Company forward,” he said.
Osunkeye is confident that Balogun has what it takes to be the new cairman to succeed him and is optimistic that he will do well as a chairman. “I am delighted that the Board has appointed Mobolaji Balogun to succeed me as Chairman. He has a breadth of experience across Finance, Strategy and Management and is very familiar with Lafarge’s business in Nigeria and Africa and I am sure he is the right person to chair the Board going forward, after the 2015 AGM. We have made considerable progress to create a stronger and more diversified building materials company but there is still work to be done. Bolaji is very well equipped to lead Lafarge Africa Plc through the next stage of its growth. His experience and expertise will be invaluable and I wish him every success in the future,” he said.
Guillaume Roux, Lafarge Africa’s group managing director, said that the company had set out clear strategies to create the number one building materials business in Africa for customer solutions, innovation, trust and shareholder value creation. “I look forward to working closely with Mobolaji Balogun as the new Chairman of the Board effective May 23rd 2015 to deliver on the strategy,” he said.
Balogun, a non-executive director of the company is also chairman of the Board, Finance and Strategic Planning Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. Balogun is the chief executive officer of Chapel Hill Denham, the leading independent investment bank in Nigeria and a director of Lafarge Africa Plc and NAHCO Aviance Plc. He was appointed to the Advisory Board of Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in September 2009. Balogun is also the immediate past chairman of the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria, the investment banks’ trade group. He was a member of the Committee that drafted the first Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance.