Lafarge Africa Plc said four directors have resigned from the board following the decision of the management to right-size the Board of the company.
The company said it is laying off some of its staff to allow for diversification and breadth of experience. Below are the names of the directors with their profile;
The company listed the names of the affected directors as below:
Mr. Joseph Hudson, a British citizen, was appointed to the Board of Lafarge Africa Plc on the 16th March 2011. He was in charge of Human resources and Organization in Uganda and later went to the USA in 2004 to set up a North and South American satellite of the Lafarge University – a global development initiative for executives. He then became the Vice President of Human Resources and organization for the North American Gypsum business before eventually returning to Africa in 2009 as Regional Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Hudson holds an honors degree from Exeter University, and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD), UK. He has represented England Universities at Rugby and has over 15 years’ experience working in Africa. He was the MD/CEO of Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc till 1st October 2014 when he returned to the Lafarge Group as Senior Vice President Organisation Development & Learning, Lafarge University.
Mr. Jean-Christophe Barbant (French) was appointed to the Board on the 27th of May 2009 and was elected Vice Chairman on the 27th September 2012. He is a graduate of Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris/France and School for Sciences and Engineering. He joined Lafarge Gypsum in 1995 as a Director for strategic development projects.
He was appointed Senior Vice President North and Central Europe between 1996 and 2000 following which he proceeded to the Lafarge Group, France as Director for Corporate E-business between 2000 and 2003. He was the CEO of Lafarge Roofing/Monier and member of the Lafarge Group Executive Committee till February 2007. He is now the Senior Vice President, Performance Management with the Lafarge Group.
Mrs. Oludewa Edodo -Thorpe is an alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, from where she graduated with a Second Class (Upper Division) in Law. She holds a Masters of Law degree from the University of Lagos, Akoka Lagos. After her call to the Nigerian Bar and the National Youth Services Corps, she joined the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank Ltd (NIDB). A former Company Secretary of NIDB Trustees Ltd, she is the National Secretary of the National Co-ordinating Committee of the Shareholders Associations. She is an active member of the Nigerian- Japan Association and a member of the International Bar Association.
She is a Director of Coastline Microfinance Bank Limited and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IOD) Nigeria. She is currently involved in the practice of Law with specialisation in Secured Credit Transactions, Corporate and Commercial Law and International Business Transactions. She joined the Board of on the 3rd of September 2008.
Thierry Metro (French) is a graduate of Ecole Central Paris in Engineering. Since joining Lafarge, Mr. Metro has held several positions, such as Plant Manager, Vice-President, Manufacturing for Lafarge Eastern Canada. In 1999, he was the Industrial Director for Lafarge Canada till 2002 when he became General Manager, International Technical Centre, America.
In 2009, he assumed the position of General Manager, Lafarge Brazil. Between 2012 to 2013, he became Group SVP Fuel Sourcing responsible for all solid fuel sourcing of the Group. In 2014, he became Group SVP Energy & Strategic Sourcing, which is responsible for all Energy and Strategic Sourcing of the Group. He joined Board of Lafarge Africa Plc on the 24th of April 2014.
Lafarge Africa has reported two consecutive years of losses after its merger with Ashaka Cement. The company competes head on with Dangote Cement, the largest cement maker in the continent which is also trying to adjust its business to the low demand environment across Africa.
