Lafarge Zambia’s Chief Financial officer has resigned his position after 14 months in the role with company.
“Pursuant to Section 3.59 of the LuSE Listing Requirements, the Board of Directors of Lafarge Zambia PLC (“Lafarge” or “the Company”), wishes to announce the resignation of Mr Raphael Chipoma as Chief Financial Officer effective 11th June 2019”, read a statement issued by the Lafarge Company Secretary Harriet Kapekele Katongo to SENS on Friday 14 June 2019.
Raphael joined the company in April of 2018 and saw the exit of previous CEO Vincent Bouckaert in December 2018 barely 8 months after taking over the role as the chief bean counter for the cement company. Prior to joining the cement maker, his previous experience was with medical devices company Stryker and logistics company Impala Terminals where he served in the same capacity for 2 and 4 years respectively.
With no replacement available, the board authorized its CEO to assume the affairs of CFO. “The Board would also like to advise that Mr Jimmy Khan, the Chief Executive Officer, shall assume the role of Chief Financial Officer until the Company finds a replacement for Mr Chipoma”, read the statement from the company.
Although the Board wishes to thank Mr Chipoma for his service and wishes him the best in his future endeavours, this move by the company comes curiously soon after the new CEO was unveiled to the last Annual General Meeting in the first half of 2019.
The confidence the board has in Jimmy to manage the financial health of the company in the interim may be inspired by the fact that he has held previous roles in the finance space that included Head of business process – internal control and audit in Nigeria, Audit Manager in France and Senior Financial Analyst, according to the CEO’s LinkedIn profile. Multi-talented no doubt.
Jimmy also held the position of HR Manager in the Lafarge DC Metro Area Office where he notably prides himself of the success he had in administering and managing a team of 5 for the annual bonus scheme amounting to $76 million. This is a signal that Lafarge Zambia has a prudent leader at the helm and the shoes of the next CFO will require the blessings of Mister “Hands-on” Khan.
Although Financial Insight do not expect move by the company to have a temporary CFO in the era of ZICA watching over its professionals with hawk eye curiosity, Lafarge no doubt has a CEO that is hands on and market watch will need to keep close watch on the transformation that may be occurring at the cement factory.