Sugar processing company, Zambia Sugar has announced the appointment of Norman Mbazima as Board member and subsequently appointed him to replace the long-serving Fidelis Banda as Board Chair effective 1st November 2019.
Following a unanimous “YES” vote on his appointment to the board at the recently held Annual General Meeting that was held at Radisson Hotel in Lusaka on 28th November 2019, Norman joins the board with over 20 years as an accountancy professional after holding many executive positions such as CFO at Konkola Copper Mines among many others.
“In accordance with Section 3.59 of the Lusaka Securities Exchange Listing Rules, the Board of Zambia Sugar Plc (“the Board”) (“Zambia Sugar” or “the Company”) wishes to announce the retirement of Mr Fidelis M. Banda as Chairman of the Board effective 28 November 2019”, read a statement issued to SENS by Mwanida M Mutimushi, Zambia Sugar’s Company Secretary issued on 1st December 2019. “Furthermore, the Board would like to announce the appointment of Mr Norman Mbazima as the new Chairman of the Board.”
Norman’s ascendance to the board chair seat means that the former long-serving chairperson will step aside after finally delivering a dividend to shareholders after a 4-year wait. “Mr Banda will remain a Non-Executive member of the Board.” This means there will be a seamless handover as Norman and Fidelis will continue to confer albeit the Fidelis now having a “boss”.
Who is Norman Mbazima?
According to his bio that was shared with Financial Insight through sources close to the matter, Norman’s background goes way back to Kumba Iron Ore, a business unit of Anglo American which he joined in September 2012. He was then appointed to the board of the Anglo American South African outfit as Deputy Chairman in June 2015. This shows he enters the ‘sweetest’ boardroom in Zambia with experience at the highest level of a multinational.
Norman’s abilities also include extensive experience in not only managing mining operations but in capital raising and negotiating transactions. He will be tested as the company forecasts growth to continue in the regional markets although margins will remain under pressure from low global sugar prices.
A sweet goodbye for Fidelis, but see you at the next AGM
With his board seat still intake, Fidelis will be proud to discuss with the freshman Norman on how under his stewardship and the Rebecca Katowa led management team they were able to steer the company back to increased profitability.
Fidelis has faced tough Annual General Meetings since convincing shareholders that Project PAAR was a necessary undertaking. Project PAAR had his board decide to get a syndicated loan was quite rare at the time. “The syndicated Zambian Kwacha denominated loan from four financial institutions was first drawn down in July 2015 in order to finance the Product Alignment and Refinery (PAAR) capital project”, according to the Zambia Sugar 2017 Annual Report. “The final draw down was made in August 2016”.
Since the drawdown of the loan and its subsequent appearance in the company’s financials, year after year after that became a balancing act of not only servicing the loan with the four participating banks (which included Barclays Bank, Stanbic Bank, Citibank and Zambia National Commercial Bank Plc), but also reminding shareholders that it was important for the company to preserve its value creation capabilities for the long term. The dividend would come despite the loan being repayable in eight equal instalments commencing in January 2017 and attracting interest at the ruling 182-day Treasury Bill interest rate at the beginning of each interest period plus a 2.5% margin, meaning that any talk of a dividend in the first 3 to 4 years of the loan was unthinkable.
Fidelis the company man
According to the Zambia Sugar website, “Mr Banda, a seasoned accountant, is Chairman of the Board as well as Chairman of the Nomination Committee. He was appointed to the board in 2001 as a non-executive director. His association with Zambia Sugar started 42 years ago when he was appointed as a management trainee and rose through the ranks to become Finance Director/Company Secretary in 1995. He took early retirement in 2002 but was retained on the Board as a non-executive director. Mr Banda is also a director of other companies”.