5 CEOs who left listed firms in 2018

Dar es Salaam. In an unusual occurrence at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), at least five chief executive officers (CEOs) have exited from listed or cross-listed companies due to a number of reasons, top being shifting to other companies.

They include CEOs of top lending companies, including CRDB Bank Plc and NMB Bank Plc. Others are Vodacom Tanzania, Nation Media Group as well as Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL).

The five companies out of the 30 listed at the bourse either saw their CEOs attaining retirement age or leaving due to other reasons.

In the case of CRDB, the bank appointed Abdulmajid Musa as the new managing director during the month of September, this year, succeeding Dr Charles Kimei who is retiring in May 2019.

1. Former CRDB CEO, Dr Charles Kimei

He worked for CRDB for 20 years from 1998 to 2018.He also served as the chairman of the Tanzania Bankers Association.

In the past he has also served on several boards, including the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Tanzania Education Authority, the Council of University of Dar es Salaam, CRDB Microfinance Services Company, and CRDB Burundi Subsidiary.

Before joining CRDB, he worked with the Bank of Tanzania as director of Banking Supervision; director of Economic Research and Policy; manager in the Department of Economic Research and Policy and other various positions in the Department of Research.

He holds a PhD (Economics) from Uppsala University Sweden, Master of Arts in Economics at Stockholm School of Economics and a Bachelor of Science (Economics) at Moscow State University.

In 1998 when Kimei took over the helm, CRDB had an asset size of Sh54billion but until the third quarter of the current calendar year, the financial institution had hit Sh5.5 trillion.

Customer deposits rose from Sh40 billion in 1998 to Sh4.5 trillion while the number of branches have risen from 20 in 1998 to 262 in 2017.

Further, in 1998 the bank registered a loss of Sh2 billion but in 2015 under the leadership of Kimei it registered a record profit after tax of Sh129 billion.

2. NMB Bank Plc managing director Ineke Bussemaker

NMB Bank Plc Managing Director is expected to leave at the end of December this year to take over a new assignment with Rabobank in the Netherlands.

Ms Bussemaker has been with NMB since 2015 to 2018, she is an international banker for over 30 years and started her career in banking after her MBA degree with a focus on business computing.

Her experience covers corporate banking, country management, transaction banking and e-business. Prior to joining NMB, she has worked for Rabobank, Citi and ABNAMRO Bank across four European countries: the Netherlands (home country), the UK, Ireland and Denmark.

During her term, NMB Bank has become by far the most profitable bank in the country, has developed a very successful digital strategy and has significantly contributed to the growing financial inclusion of all Tanzanians.

Ms Bussemaker will be remembered for investing in new products, technologies and alternative distribution channels, which have all contributed to the solid foundation of the bank

3. Sylvia Wairimu Mulinge (Vodacom)

Is a Kenyan businesswoman and corporate executive. Her permit to work for Vodacom Tanzania, was denied by the Tanzanian government since November 2018.

She serves as the chief customer officer at Safaricom and reports directly to the chief executive officer of the telecommunications company.

She was named Vodacom Tanzania MD after the position fell vacant following the exit of Ian Ferrao, a Briton who saw the telco listed in the country’s stock exchange in 2017.

Ms Mulinge was appointed the new managing director for Vodacom Tanzania effective June 1, this year.

She joined Safaricom from Unilever in February 2006 and rose to the position of director of Consumer Business.

She is credited with, among other achievements, overseeing the growth of the telco’s enterprise business, spearheading regionalisation strategy and leveraging industry trends to deliver customer-focused products and services.

However after the Vodacom appointment failed, Safaricom re-appointed Sylvia Mulinge as the director in charge of special projects months after her appointment as the Managing Director of Vodacom Tanzania had failed to take off.

4. Former NMG CEO Joe Muganda

Mr Joe Muganda joined NMG in July 2015, replacing Mr Linus Gitahi, who left after leading the company for ten years.

He left the company at the end of January 2018 to become Vivo Energy managing director from February 1, 2018 after having held the helm of the group for two and half years.

Mr Stephen Gitagama, the Group Finance director, replaced Mr Muganda in an acting capacity as the board looks for a replacement.

Mr Muganda left after successfully repositioning the company on a digital growth.

5. Dr Julius Kangogo Kipng’etich,

Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL) also announced the appointment of Dr Julius Kipng’etich as its regional chief executive officer (CEO) effective January 1, 2018.

Dr Kipng’etich served as chief executive officer of Uchumi Supermarkets Limited since August 3, 2015 until November 30, 2017.

He also served as the chief operating officer of Equity Group Holdings Limited until September 4, 2015 and served as its executive director from June 27, 2008 to January 05, 2015.

Furthermore, he served as the chief executive officer of Kenya Wildlife Service and the managing director of the organisation.

He is known for spearheading regional growth, new product development and the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) – Equitel development.