Mohammed Akoojee takes over as the recently listed Imperial Logistics CEO as of 1 February.
After the resignation of former Imperial Logistics CEO Marius Swanepoel, Imperial Holdings CFO Mohammed Akoojee will step in to his place at the start of February.
Regarding his new role, Mohammed said:
“I am very excited about the new role. We’ve walked a long journey to get where we are – having Imperial Logistic separately listed. It’s been quite fulfilling to get to this point. Following this three-to-four-year period, I am looking forward to this next stage in our growth.”
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“If you look at the business in terms of the countries in which we operate, there’s a lot of opportunity for growth. We are building on our businesses in Africa and Germany, adding more capabilities in those areas. Things are tough in South Africa, but there are opportunities in this market as well,” he explained.
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“We’re a big business, operating in 33 countries with 30 000 employees. We have the expertise, the capabilities and the industry exposure and we are very excited about taking the company forward into this new phase. I am looking forward to delivering growth for our shareholders.”
Marius, who has been with Imperial Logistics for more than 29 years, will remain an executive director of the board until 30 June (when he was supposed to resign according to a statement by the company) and will remain in the company’s employ until 31 December, responsible for special projects “and available for strategic counsel.”
Prior to being appointed as CEO designate of Imperial Logistics, Mohammed served as the acting CEO of Imperial Holdings in addition to his role as group CFO.
He previously served as CEO of the Logistics African Regions division and executive director responsible for merges, acquisitions, strategy and investor relations for the group. He has also served on the Imperial Logistics and Logistics International Boards.
In a statement, Imperial Logistics said:
“Mohammed has been instrumental in building the African Regions and International logistics businesses through his mergers and acquisitions role and then as CEO of the African Regions division.”
He has established relationships with their clients, principals, people and business partners in those regions, and “knows and understand the Imperial Logistics’ businesses through his knowledge and exposure as a director and previous roles at Imperial Holdings.”
The company expressed their confidence that Mohammed will lead Imperial Logistics successfully into the next phase of its journey.
“Having already already spent time with Mohamed over the years, his input and contribution to the vision, expansion and strategy of Imperial Logistics, his collaborative management style and his knowledge of creating and enhancing stakeholder value, will continue adding value to our business.”
Before joining Imperial in 2009, Mohammed worked within the corporate finance and investment banking team at Investec Bank and as an equity analyst for Nedbank Securities.
