Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
CBZ Holdings Limited board of directors’ chairman, Mr Marc Holtzman has retired with effect from 31 December 2023, while a transitional arrangement has been put in place and this has allowed him to proceed to take leave from 1 December.
Mr Luxon Zembe has been appointed acting chairman of the company, effective from 1 December.
In a statement, CBZ Holdings Group chief governance officer, Ms Rumbidzayi Angeline Jakanani said during his tenure as chairman, Mr Holtzman served with distinction and showed strong leadership.
“The board of directors of CBZ Holdings Limited announces that Mr Marc Holtzman, a non-executive director of the company, has tendered notice of his retirement as a director of the company and from the position of chairman of the board of directors with effect from 31 December 2023,” she said.
“During his tenure as chairman, Marc served with distinction and showed strong leadership as he steered the company and group on a clear growth trajectory. The board sincerely expresses its gratitude to him for his service over the past four years during which the company has embarked on a number of corporate actions which will transform it into an integrated financial services group.”
She said Mr Zembe is a highly experienced business management consultant with over 30 years of expertise in Corporate Governance and Strategic Planning across various sectors.
“His financial sector experience includes serving on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Advisory Board and Monetary Policy Committees, as well as holding executive positions at Standard Chartered Bank. Luxon has also held senior roles in manufacturing, mining, and retail sectors. He currently runs a management consulting business,” she added.
She said Mr Zembe holds an MBA degree from Henley International Business School and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) (UK), among other qualifications.
Ms Jakanani said with his vast corporate experience, he is adequately positioned to provide leadership in driving to completion the corporate actions currently underway in the company.
Meanwhile, she said Dr Blessing Mudavanhu has also retired as the group chief executive officer (CEO).
“The board of directors of CBZ Holdings Limited wish to announce that after five years of distinguished service, Dr Blessing Mudavanhu will be retiring from his position as group chief executive officer for the company with the effect from 31 December 2023. A transitional arrangement has been put in place and this has allowed Dr Mudavanhu to proceed to take leave from 1 December 2023,” she said.
She said his leadership was instrumental in restoring the company’s brand and reputation, the momentum of which will no doubt continue into the future.
Mr Lawrence Nyazema has been appointed to the position of acting group chief executive officer with effect from 1 December.
He was currently the managing director, a position he took up on 1 January 2022 having joined CBZ Bank as executive director, Wholesale Banking in January 2020.
“Prior to that he spent 19 years with Barclays Bank (now First Capital Bank) in various capacities including being commercial director from 1 April 2011 to January 2020 when he joined CBZ Bank. He also spent 10 years at ZB Financial Holdings. The board and management congratulate Lawrence on his appointment and wish him all the best in his new role.”
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