The PetroSA Board has announced Pragasen Naidoo as the entity’s new group chief executive officer.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the board said the appointment was effective from 17 January 2020, subject to transitional arrangement with the Central Energy Fund.
“His appointment followed a rigorous recruitment process to appoint a permanent Group CEO after the entity has had a number of executives on an acting role since 2014,” PetroSA said.
Prior to the appointment, Naidoo, in addition to other roles, served as the Group Chief Operations and Business Development Officer at the Central Energy Fund (CEF), a holding company of PetroSA.
He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and an MSc in Engineering whilst his industry experience spans approximately 18 years in Human Capital Development and Management, Technology Development and Engineering, Capital Project Execution, Business Development and Operations. During this period, Naidoo also gained exposure to the local and international environments.
Commenting on his appointment, PetroSA chairperson, Frans Baleni said: “Mr Naidoo’s demonstrable industry experience and acumen will continue to deliver value to the entity’s shareholders and stakeholders through good governance, operational excellence, and sustainable growth. We are confident that he will contribute immensely towards addressing our business’ sustainability challenges, as well as positioning PetroSA for the future”.
The CEF Group Chairperson, Monde Mnyande welcomed the appointment.
“We embrace and fully support the permanent appointment of the PetroSA Group CEO, Mr Naidoo. The appointment of Mr Naidoo could not have come at a better time, when as a group we have initiated a roadmap to build a solid foundation for the long term sustainability of the group,” said Mnyande.
Mnyande said on behalf of the CEF Board of Directors, they are committed to work closely with the PetroSA Board and the Group CEO to provide any requisite support to bring stability, sustainability and growth at PetroSA; the subsidiary which accounts for 85% of the group revenue.
Baleni also thanked the outgoing interim Group CEO Bongani Siyadini for providing stewardship when the company was going through a turbulent period. – SAnews.gov.za
