Appoints Archives — Business Bells

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Tag: Appoints

  • Nigerian Breweries Appoints Hans Essaadi as New Managing Director

    Nigerian Breweries Appoints Hans Essaadi as New Managing Director

     

    …takes over from Jordi Borrut Bel on July 31, 2021

     

    The Board of Directors of Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Hans Essaadi as the new Managing Director of the company with effect fromJuly 31, 2021.

     

    He replaces current MD/CEO, Jordi Borrut Bel who has completed his assignment in Nigeria and has been appointed as MD/CEO for HEINEKEN South Africa.

     

    In a statement to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the Board expressed its gratitude to Mr Bel, who successfully cemented the company’s position as market leader in a challenging operating environment, and also steered the company through a turbulent period, caused by the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

     

    The incoming MD, Hans Essaadi is the current Managing Director of Al Haram Beverages, the Heineken Operating Company in Egypt. He joined the HEINEKEN Group as a Sales representative in 1991 and rose through the ranks, assuming various senior roles within the Group in Sales, Export and Marketing.

     

    He commenced his international career with HEINEKEN Puerto Rico as the Country Manager, and thereafter became the General Manager, Brau Union International (Austria). Before his current role in Egypt, he was General Manager, Siroco (the HEINEKEN Joint Venture with the Emirates in Dubai) and Managing Director,

     

    Incorporated in 1946, Nigerian Breweries Plc is Nigeria’s pioneer and largest Brewing firm with 9 breweries, 2 malting plants and 26 Sales depots from which its high-quality products are distributed to all parts of the country. With a market capitalization of N448 billion, it is one of the largest companies on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

  • World Trade Organization Appoints Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala As New Director-General

    World Trade Organization Appoints Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala As New Director-General

    Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been appointed the new chief of the World Trade Organization, becoming the first woman to ever lead the Switzerland-based institution and the first African citizen to take on the role.

     

    However, this is not the first time that Okonjo-Iweala makes history.

     

    Born in Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala graduated from Harvard University in 1976 and then earned a PhD from MIT.

     

    She then became the first woman to take on the Nigerian finance ministry and the foreign ministry too. She was also the first female to run for the World Bank presidency, where she spent 25 years.

     

    In October, her WTO candidacy was supported by all geographic regions at the trade body apart from the United States, where the then-Trump administration said it would continue backing the Korean candidate.

     

    However, Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment was cleared when President Joe Biden announced a few days ago his support for the 66-year old.

     

    Her vision for the WTO

    The WTO is at a crossroads after many countries seemed to take a step back from long-standing norms governing international trade. In addition, its appellate body has been paralyzed for months after the U.S. — again, under the Trump administration — prevented the appointment of new judges therefore rendering it unable to rule on any trade disputes.

     

    “My vision is also of a rejuvenated and strengthened WTO that will be confident to tackle effectively ongoing issues,” Okonjo-Iweala told WTO members during a hearing in July.

     

    “It is clear that a rules-based system without a forum in which a breach of the rules can be effectively arbitrated loses credibility over time,” she said at the same hearing.

     

    Officials in the European Union and the United States have previously said the WTO needs to be reformed and its rules updated, but there is no consensus on how to do it.

     

    “The WTO appears paralyzed at a time when its rule book would greatly benefit from an update to 21st century issues such as ecommerce and the digital economy, the green and circular economies,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

     

    She is also likely to support female participation in global trade, having said that “greater efforts should be made to include women-owned enterprises in the formal sector.”

     

    Sleeping on the floor

    Okonjo-Iweala has said she can take hardship, having experienced Nigeria’s brutal civil war during her teenage years, during which her family reportedly lost all their savings.

     

    “I can take hardship. I can sleep on the cold floor anytime,” she told the BBC in an interview in 2012.

     

    When serving as Nigeria’s finance minister, kidnappers demanded Okonjo-Iweala resign after taking her mother hostage. She refused to comply and they ended up releasing her mother a few days later, the BBC reported.

     

    She has also been involved in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, being the African Union’s special envoy on the matter. Okonjo-Iweala has been a board member of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — a public-private health partnership immunizing people in poorer countries.

  • Buhari Appoints Auditor-General, FRC Boss

    Buhari Appoints Auditor-General, FRC Boss

    President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Mr Aghughu Adolphus for appointment as the auditor-general for the Federation.

     

    The appointment according to a statement on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Babajide Omoworare, is in pursuant to Section 86(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

     

    Aghughu has been acting as the auditor-general since the retirement of Mr Anthony Ayine from service upon attainment of the mandatory retirement age of 60 years on 25th October 2020.

     

    The auditor-general designate hails from Edo State and holds a master’s degree in economics.

     

    He is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Associate member of Chartered Institute of Taxation.

     

    He became an auditor in the Office of the Auditor-General in 1992 and was promoted to the rank of Director of Audit in January 2016.

     

    In a related development, the President has also nominated Victor Muruako for appointment as Chairman for the Fiscal Responsibility Commission in accordance with the provision of section 5(3) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

     

    Muruako, a legal practitioner had served as the Secretary to the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and currently acts as the chairman of the commission. He is from Imo State.

     

    Both letters of nomination have been forwarded to the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, for confirmation by the Senate.