People

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Arvind Pathak as its Group Managing Director with effect from 1 March 2023. He will succeed Michel Puchercos, who has been in the post for three years.

Pathak holds over 30 years of experience in the cement sector. He previously worked as the managing director and chief executive officer of Birla Corporation in India. Prior to this he held two positions with Dangote Cement as Dy Group Managing Director and Group Chief Operating Officer respectively. He has also worked for Adani Enterprises and Reliance Cement. He holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi and a post graduate qualification in business administration and management from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering.

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) has appointed Jaime Rocha Font as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Pedro Carranza Andressen in the post, according to Alimarket-Construcción. Rocha Font is currently the CEO of Mexico-based Elementia and he will continue to hold this position. Elementia owns a controlling share of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), the parent company of CPV.

Rocha Font has been the head of Elementia since 2020. Prior to this he was the head of Elementia’s cement division, including subsidiaries Cementos Fortaleza and Giant Cement in the US, from 2015. He also held the position of president of the National Cement Chamber of Mexico between 2019 and 2022. Earlier in his career he spent over 20 years working for Holcim from 1992. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Pontificia Católica de Chile and a master's degree in international economics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles amongst other qualifications.

Italy: Cementir Holding has appointed Roberto Marazza as its Group Chief Financial Officer with effect from 15 March 2023.

Marazza, graduated in business administration and accounting from Genoa University, started his career in IBM as accounting manager and then covered roles of increasing responsibility, including the position of CFO in fuel and energy and renewable energy companies such as Total ERG and Italiana Petroli (API Group).

Bolivia: Itacamba Cementos has appointed Marcelo Morales as its general manager.

Morales previously worked as the chief financial officer and head of procurement for the cement producer since 2015. Before this he held a variety of roles in Brazil for Votorantim Cimentos including finance, strategy and marketing roles. He was also the head of the company’s lime business for a period. Morales holds a qualification in business administration and a master’s degree in business administration.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has appointed Marcos Electo Figueiredo Garcia as its General Manager of Logistics Efficiency.

Figueiredo Garcia has worked for Votorantim Cimentos since 2013 in a variety of supply chain and logistic roles. Most recently he held the post of Supply Chain Manager since 2019. He holds an engineering degree from the Universidade Federal da Bahia.