Nompumelelo Magwaza
MXOLISI Mgojo, the newly appointed chief executive of Exxaro, would fit comfortably in the shoes of one of the most respected man in the local corporate world, Sipho Nkosi, analysts said yesterday.
The coal group yesterday announced that Nkosi, who has led Exxaro since 2007, would retire as chief executive on March 31, 2016 with Mgojo taking over the reigns as chief-designate in transition starting from 1 May this year.
Steve Meintjes, head of research at Imara SP, believed that the 54-year-old Mgojo was a well experienced man, who was familiar with the who’s who of the mining industry.
Mgojo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, an honours degree in energy studies, an MBA and has completed an advanced management programme.
He would be replaced by Nombase Tsengwa who was currently the general manager for Mpumalanga coal operations.
“Mxolisi is well known to the analysts and has been to most of the presentations and mine visits. He played a prominent role and everyone knows that he knows the business very well and have confidence in him,” said Meintjes.
Exxaro’s chairman Len Konar said: “The appointment of Mxolisi is the culmination of a thorough succession plan that was implemented over several years.
“The Exxaro board is pleased to welcome him as our chief executive designate and we look forward to the strategic management, business acumen and operational know-how that he will bring to bear in the roll-out of the company strategy.”
Meintjes added that Mgojo came on board with Nkosi at the time of formation of Exxaro. Prior to assuming his current position in August 2008, Mgojo was an executive general manager responsible for Exxaro’s base metals and industrial minerals commodity business.
Praised
Nkosi’s leadership was praised by Meintjes. “During his tenure, there were no squabbles in the company. The only problems could have been Eskom. There were never any reservations about Nkosi. I think he did a good job.”
When Nkosi joined Exxaro in 2007, its net value a share rose by 231 percent to R96 a share from R29.
“Under Nkosi’s leadership, Exxaro has developed into one of the largest and foremost black-owned, South African-based diversified resources companies,” Exxaro said.
Under his leadership the group has achieved an 80 percent reduction in fatalities and a 50 percent reduction in lost time injury frequency rate.
Konar said: “The Exxaro board will like to thank Sipho for developing Exxaro into a leading South African resources company and for delivering significant value to stakeholders. The group has a balance sheet, solid growth potential and is poised to move to the next level of growth.”
Nkosi was instrumental in the formation of Exxaro which involved the merger of Kumba’s coal, mineral sands and base metal assets with Eyesizwe Coal, a firm he had previously formed with others.
Exxaro eased 2.88 percent to R101.90 on the JSE yesterday.