UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Dragan Maksimovic as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Guy Edwards, who is leaving the company.

Maksimovic joins the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim from Sika, where he worked most recently as Country CEO in the UK. He holds an MBA from the University of Sheffield and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He has also completed an International Leadership Program at IMD in Switzerland.

Kenya: The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appointment of directors of Savannah Cement by a High Court Judge. Judge Farah Amin appointed an interim board in response to a legal battle over the ownership of the cement producer, according to the Business Daily newspaper. However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the judge’s actions overruled the power of the company’s shareholders.

The current legal proceedings were triggered when Kenyan-based investor Peter Ndeta acquired a majority stake in Savannah Cement in 2015 from Chinese investors and transferred the ownership to a Mauritian company called Seruji. Donald Mwaura and John Gachanga, who previously held a minority share in the company along with Ndeta, have disputed the process.

South Africa: Pieter Fourie, the chief executive officer of Sephaku Cement, has died. He passed away on 19 May 2021 following suffering a stroke earlier in the month. He is survived by a wife, three children and five grandchildren.

Fourie became the head of the subsidiary of Nigeria-based Dangote Cement in 2007. He later became a board director of the company in 2009 after its stock market listing. His previous roles included being marketing director of Blue Circle, which was subsequently acquired by Lafarge South Africa, the managing director of the cement business unit of Lafarge South Arica and Strategic Development Director for Africa based at the Lafarge head office in France. Fourie’s role at Blue Circle included sales, distribution and marketing before being promoted to managing director of the cement business. He subsequently accepted the assignment at Lafarge’s head office in a strategic development role to integrate the newly acquired business in Africa into Lafarge’s portfolio.

India: Nuvoco Vistas has appointed Abhijit Bhalerao as its chief information officer (CIO). He will be responsible for leading the technology initiatives at Nuvoco Group companies in business applications, enterprise architecture and infrastructure domains, according to the Economic Times of India newspaper.

Bhalerao was previously the Head of Group IT at Dr Abhay Firodia Group, including Force Motors, Jaya Hind Industries and several joint-ventures. He holds over 20 years of professional and technology consulting expertise using emerging technologies to deliver business-focused solutions. He has served as director at Ernst and Young and advised business chief executive officers on technology, infrastructure, IT architecture and organisation-wide analytics adoption. Other positions include working for HCL Technology, Essar, Raymond and Steelage Industries. He holds a master’s degree in Computer Software & Applications and a bachelor's degree in Engineering.