Lolu Alade-Akinyemi Becomes Lafarge Africa CEO as El-Dokani Resigns

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Mr Lolu Alade-Akinyemi has been appointed as the new Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) of Lafarge Africa Plc.

He replaces Mr Khaled El-Dokani, who is resigning from the position on Friday, June 30, 2023, to give way to the new occupier of the post from the next day.

Prior to his appointment, Mr Alade-Akinyemi was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the supply chain director of the cement maker.

He was appointed an executive director to the board on April 8, 2020, and has over 20 years of cross-functional experience in finance, supply chain, business development and sales.

The incoming chief executive is a seasoned business executive with multifaceted international experience and accomplishments in turnaround situations, transforming processes to improve business performance, fostering growth in challenging business environments, and profit & loss oversight.

Prior to joining Lafarge in 2014, he was Finance Director of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc for four years and was at the Coca-Cola Company for 16 years, where he worked in the UK, Belgium, Ghana and Nigeria, taking increased responsibilities in finance, business, development, supply chain and sales.

Mr Alade-Akinyemi, who has received the blessings of the board, started his career as a trainee at ExxonMobil. He is a certified accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Essex and an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School, UK.

By virtue of his resignation, Mr El-Dokani will no longer be on the board of the firm as an executive director but as a non-executive director.

He joined the board in 2020 and successfully navigated the company through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, recording unprecedented financial performance consistently year-on-year in spite of the challenging business environment.

He implemented a turnaround plan for the business, thereby addressing the industrial, financial and human resource challenges of the company. He successfully entrenched and upheld a strong ethical culture, gender diversity and sustainability principles, which are part of Holcim Group’s core values.