People

Tanzania: Mbeya Cement has appointed Ahmed Mhadaas as its CEO.

Mhadaas joined the cement producer in 2020 as its chief financial officer. He holds over 15 years’ experience working in manufacturing, telecommunications and mining. Roles in the cement sector include financial roles for Tanga Cement and LafargeHolcim Tanzania, before it was acquired by Amsons Group. He has also worked for Airtel Tanzania, Saint-Gobain and Tanzania Cigarette. He holds a degree in commerce from the University of Dar es Salaam, a master’s of business administration (MBA) qualification from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Ecuador: Holcim Ecuador has appointed Ivanoff Rojas as production manager at its Guayaquil cement plant.

Rojas previously held a number of production roles for Cementos Pacasmayo in Peru from 2012 to early 2025. Prior to this he worked for companies including Cementera del Perú, Cementos Selva, Cementos Tequendama and Sika Perú. He trained as a chemical engineer at the Universidad Nacional del Callao and holds a master’s degree in engineering from the Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Zambia: Chilanga Cement says that Nason Kasoma, the Deputy Plant Manager of its Ndola cement plant, has died in a road traffic accident. He had been in post since the start of 2022. Kasoma had worked at the Ndola plant for Chilanga Cement and Lafarge Cement Zambia in a variety of maintenance and operations roles from the late 1990s.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has appointed Edgardo Rivas as the plant manager of its Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia.

Rivas previously worked as a Maintenance Manager for Lafarge Canada from 2023. Before this he held maintenance and engineering roles for Cementos Argos in Honduras from 2015 to 2023. Notably, he was the plant manager of the Río Blanquito grinding unit from 2017 to 2023. Before this, he held positions with Industria Venezolana de Cemento in Venezuela from 2009 to 2015. Rivas holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Universidad Simón Bolívar.

India: Orient Cement has appointed Vaibhav Dixit as its CEO. He succeeds Desk Deepak Khetrapal, who has resigned from the post. Other notable appointments include that of Vinod Bahety as chair and Kajal Sarda as chief financial officer.

Dixit has worked in the cement industry for more than 20 years with jobs at ACC, including Unit Head of Jamul Cement Works, Unit Head of Sindri Cement Works, Project Head at Sindri, Head Engineering of Bargarh Cement Works and Chief Manager Maintenance of Kymore Cement Works. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Madhav Institute of Technology and Sciences.

Bahety became the CEO of Ambuja Cements and ACC earlier in April 2025. Prior to this, he was the CFO of the subsidiaries of Adani Group from 2022. He also worked as the Group Head for Merger & Acquisition at Adani Group. He holds qualifications as a chartered accountant and a cost and works accountant.

Sarda, a trained chartered accountant, has worked for other 20 years in business finance. She has been the Head of Financial Reporting at Adani Gorup since 2023. Prior to this, she worked for as Corporate Finance Controller for Hindustan Zinc and as a Marketing Controller at Bharat Aluminium Company.

Ambuja Cements secured approval from the Competition Commission of India in March 2025 to buy Orient Cement.