According to a statement signed by the Deputy Company Secretary (Edward Imoedemhe) and issued to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) earlier this week, the resignation will take effect on January 31st, 2020.
That Michel Puchercos would be replacing Makoju is the interesting part. The announcement by the company indicated that he (Puchercos) has been appointed and approved by the board to take over starting February next year.
Recall that it was just last week that Puchercos resigned from his former job as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc. Now, as you may well know, Lafarge Africa is a rival cement manufacturer which competes against Dangote Cement. The fact that Puchercos resigned from Lafarge to join Dangote could not be any more intriguing.
“The board has approved the appointment of Mr Michel Puchercos as his replacement on the Board of Directors, as the Group CEO, effective from 1st February 2020.
“Mr Puchercos has more than twenty (20) years’ experience in the cement industry, having served in various capacities at Lafarge including as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Lafarge Halla Cement… His last appointment was as the Group Managing Director and Country CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc, a company listed on Premium Stock Exchange (Lagos).”
In the meantime, Joseph Makoju will go on to enjoy his retirement. The 71-year old became the Group CEO of Dangote Cement Plc in early 2018. Prior to his appointment as the CEO, he had been serving as a Non-Executive Director on the company’s board since 2010.
The University of Nottingham graduate has many years of experience in the private sector. At some points in his career, he even served as the CEO of Lafarge Africa which was known as WAPCO back then.