CEOs of some of Africa’s biggest Companies; who are they?

As you may well know, there are hundreds of thousands of companies incorporated across the 54 countries in Africa. Out of these many companies, only about 1,749 of them are listed on the 29 stock exchanges available on the continent. Thanks to publicly available information, Business Elites Africa has painstakingly analysed Africa’s biggest companies based on their market capisalisation. Now, we shall be looking at some of the men and women who oversee their affairs.

1. Bob van Dijk CEO of Naspers: Naspers is a leading South African media company with a market capitalisation of $67.8 billion and a valuation of $102 billion according to Bloomberg. Mr Dijk has been overseeing the affairs of this company since April 2014. The 48-year old Dutchman holds an MBA from INSEAD as well as a Master’s degree from Erasmus University. He had previously worked with McKinsey & Company prior to joining Naspers.

2. Jerome Lambert CEO of Campagnie Financiere Richmont SA: In the year 2018, Jerome Lambert assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of Campagnie Financiere Richmont SA, a luxury goods holding company which was founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. The company’s market capitalisation stands at an impressive $53.5 billion, with a valuation of $32.1 billion, according to Forbes.

Mr Lambert, who was born in 1969 and currently aged 52 years old. Prior to joining the company in 2017 following his appointment to the Board of Directors, he held other important positions in a number of European establishments. He is a graduate of ESG Management School. He also holds a postgraduate degree from the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration.

3. Alan Patrick Pullinger CEO of FirstRand Limited: Mr Pullinger took up the CEO position at FirstRand Limited in April 2018. The company, which was incorporated in 1966, is the holding company for FirstRand Bank, a leading financial services provider in South Africa. The company has a market capitalisation of $12.5 billion and valuation of $12.4 billion according to Forbes’ estimates.

Mr Pullinger graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in 1991 with a degree in Accounting. He then worked initially with Deloitte & Touche where he spent nearly five years until he became a Partner in 1996. From there he joined  Rand Merchant Bank in 1998 and was announced as the CEO in 2008. However, after the creation of FirstRand, he was made the Deputy CEO of the new company in 2015, a position he held until his promotion to CEO position in 2018.

4. Mohamed Shameel Joosub CEO of Vodacom Group Limited: This 50-year old Harvard-trained business executive has been the Group CEO of Vodacom Group Limited since August 2012. Vodacom Group is a leading South African mobile communications company with a market capitalisation of about $12.5 billion.

He studied at the University of Southern Queensland and was specially mentored by Alan Knott-Craig, the Founder of Vodacom Group. In 2019, he completed an Advanced Management Programme at Harvard University.

5. Peter Ndegwa CEO of Safaricom: On April 1st 2020, Mr Ndegwa took over the affairs of Safaricom as its Chief Executive Officer. Safaricom is a leading Kenyan telecom company with more than 32 million subscribers, a market capitalisation of about $9.9 billion and a valuation of $10.6 billion according to Forbes.

Mr Ndegwa is 52 and an alumnus of the prestigious London Business School. Prior to his current job, he held other high profile positions in companies such as Diageo, Guinness Nigeria Plc, East African Breweries Plc, etc.

6. Ralph Mupita CEO of MTN Group Ltd: Mr Muputa’s September 2020 appointment as the new CEO of the leading telco came as a pleasant surprise. The company, which was incorporated in 1994 in South Africa has a market capitalisation of $5.3 billion as well as a valuation of $4.8 billion.

Mupita, who was the company’s Chief Financial Officer prior to his appoint, resumedat his new post on September 1, 2020 after the departure of former CEO Rob Shuter who led the firm for more than five years. He is an engineering graduate from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

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7: Paul Hanratty CEO of Sanlam: The South African insurance firm is a major player in the African financial services space, and Paul Hanratty has been overseeing its affairs since July 2020. Note that the company has a market capitalisation of $7.1 billion and a valuation of $6.7 billion.

Born in 1961, Paul Hanratty was appointed to Sanlam’s Board of Directors in 2017. He also sits on the Board of MTN Group Ltd as a Non Executive Director. Previously, he worked with Old Mutual in various capacities 1984 and 2016.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We will continue to update this page…