Zambia Sugar Plc has announced the appointment of Raphael Chipoma as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company following convincing negotiations by the Rebecca Katowa management team in replacing the vacant position.
“In accordance with Section 3.59(b) of the Lusaka Securities Exchange Listings Rules, the Board of Directors (“the Board”) of Zambia Sugar PLC (“ZSUG” or “the Company”) wishes to announce the appointment of Mr. Raphael Chipoma as Finance of the Company effective 1st December 2019”, read a statement issued to SENS by Company Secretary Mwansa M Mutimushi on 2nd December 2019.
Raphael, who until recently served a short stint (since June 2019) at Lafarge as CFO after the Jimmy Khan (CEO Lafarge Zambia) management team had thought they had their man, along came Rebecca with a 2019 Income statement that shows an 8 ngwee dividend that was too attractive to ignore. He begins his 2019 summer with the ‘sweetest’ company that has a balance sheet that has total assets worth K3.490 Billion, long term & short term borrowings of K1.60 Billion and a recent top line of K2.90 billion.
A qualified chartered accountant with corporate accounting and management experience, Raphael has over 20 years of senior financial leadership experience in leading firms in the energy sector namely BP Africa and Puma Energy across a number of countries in Sub- Saharan Africa, according to the Lafarge Zambia website.
With an MBA from the Oxford Brookes University, Raphael must quickly adapt to the financial life around the Nakambala estate. Financial Insight had spotted him at the Zambia Sugar AGM held at the end of November 2019, were he listened intently at the Board deliver financial results that investors in the company had longed for. His task is simple. Provide financial leadership at the sugar manufacturer into the next decade and deliver astute financial management for continued and sustainable shareholder value. The foundation was set by his predecessor who exited in Q3 to join another listed company. He must now deliver on the mandate given to him by the board.
