Lekani Katandula is new Illovo Malawi managing director

Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc has appointed their human resource director Lekani Katandula as the company’s new managing director, the first Malawian to hold the post.

A statement made available to Nyasa Times by Illovo Sugar Africa group managing director Gavin Dalgleish, notes that Katandula takes over from Mark Bainbridge who recently departed the company.

Katandula joined the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed sugar manufacturer  in 2015 as Financial Director until 2017 when he was appointed Human Resource Director.

“As Financial Director, Lekani championed significant internal control improvements leading to the Malawi Finance team being awarded the most improved financial control environment accolade within the Illovo Africa Group as at August 2017,” the statement reads.

According to the statement, as human resource director, Katandula delivered efficiency-enhancing payroll and benefits reforms which have transformed the business.

“Last year, the Malawi HR team won the Human Resources Award presented to Lekani and at the Group awards ceremony at last year’s Leadership Conference.”

Katandula was appointed to the Board of Ethanol Company Limited on 1st July 2017.

Prior to joining Illovo, Katandulaworked with Deloitte for 19 years where he held several position in including being the Professional Practice Director for Deloitte Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

He was also a lead partner in Deloitte Corporate Finance, liquidator of Air Malawi Limited and an Audit Partner for 11 years serving various clients including Reserve Bank of Malawi, Press Corporation plc, National Bank of Malawi plc, FDH Bank, Telekom Networks Malawi plc, Nampak Malawi limited, United General Insurance.

Katundula is also ACCA qualified, CFA Charter holder, CISA qualified.

He holds a Bachelors of Accountancy from University of Malawi and an MBA Degree from the University of Bradford in the UK.

Katundula serves as a non-executive director in a number of other sectors of the Malawi economy and chairs various committees.

He is a former boardchair of Phoenix International Primary School, Alliance Capital Limited, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi where he was president for two years.

Katundula is a trustee for SUCOMA group pension scheme and a non-executive director at First Capital Bank, Ethanol Company and Malawi Telecommunications Limited.

Sugar is one of the country’s forex earners and Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc, which has a 97 percent market share, employs about 9 500 people.

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