Following the integration of Liberty Life and STANLIB's Rest of Africa teams and in an effort to further strengthen the Liberty Groups strategic new business growth in the rest of Africa; the Liberty Group today announced the new appointments of a senior executive team as of 1st September 2007.
Liberty Group Deputy Chief Executive Rex Tomlinson commented, "The rest of Africa represents a strategic opportunity for us in terms of business growth. The Liberty Group currently operates in Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland with healthy margins and good returns.
"We work closely with Standard Bank in all our businesses because Standard Banks pre-eminent African banking footprint gives us a huge advantage in researching the feasibility of various markets on the continent," says Rex.
The Liberty Group has over the last 6 - 12 months actively built their people capacity to deliver on the rest of Africa growth strategy. "We are serious about the rest of Africa and believe that as the continent's economic growth gathers speed, opportunities for a nimble and suitably advantaged regional player will arise," he says. "Therefore, an African strategy involves the establishment of central hubs in each of the Southern, Eastern and Western African regions from which we will drive expansion across the wealth product range."
Regarding the new appointment of Bernard Katompa, Rex says, "We're excited about securing the services of Bernard who is a seasoned professional with both extensive African and global experience."
Key appointments include:
Bernard Katompa, the new Chief Executive of Rest of Africa joins the Liberty Group from BHP Billiton where he held the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of their Global Management Group. Prior to that Katompa held the senior position of Financial Director of Billiton Metals Canada before moving to a Global Position at BHP Billiton in Houston. He is a multilingual accounting professional with extensive knowledge of African markets. Bernard will join the Liberty Group Executive.
Charles Muyodi, Divisional Director for Business Development in East Africa and a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. He joins the Liberty Group from British American Insurance, where he is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Actuary. Muyodi has held senior executive and professional positions in Kenya, South Africa, the UK (Norwich Union) and most recently Mauritius.
Lanz Zulu, newly promoted Regional Managing Director for Southern Africa, was previously Divisional Director for Strategic Initiatives Rest of Africa, Liberty Group. Lanz joined the Liberty Group from Citigroup six months ago where he was Chief Financial Officer, South African Operations. Lanz began his professional career at KPMG. He is a qualified chartered accountant with a MBA.
Frank Terblanche, previously the Managing Director for STANLIB's Rest of Africa operations, has been appointed Director, Marketing and Distribution for Rest of Africa. In this critical role Frank will bring both his extensive experience in Africa and understanding of the Liberty Group.
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