By Chisomo Phiri

Jimmy Kajanike Lipunga is now a new is the new chairman of Illovo Sugar Malawi Limited following his appointment for the post announced by the company on January 25,2023.

According to the statement by the company’s secretary Maureen Kachingwe, Lipungu whose appointment is effective January 24,2022 replaces Gavin Barry Dalgleish who stepped down from the post some weeks ago.

As a Chartered Accountant, joined Deloitte and Touche in 1983.

He worked in various in various roles including the financial position of Supervising Senior.

In March 1993, Lipunga joined Bhanol company limited as its financial manager providing leadership to the entire finance department.

In August 1996, he transitioned into public sector and joined the then Private Commission as a Director of Finance. In this role, Jimmy was responsible for financial analyses and due diligence reviews for state owned enterprises earmarked for privatization.

He was a key player in valuation of shares and assets for enterprises earmarked for privatization.

Jimmy oversaw the first five IPOs on the Malawi Stock Exchange including Illovo Sugar Malawi plc.

In 2004, he was promoted to Transactions Director a position he served for one before ascending to the position of Chief Executive Officer in 2006.

He was the key player in the transition from the privatization framework to the public-private partnership paradigm. He retired in August 2019 after serving as the Chief Executive Officer for 14 years.

Jimmy is the past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi ( 2004-2006).

He is also the past chairman of the Malawi Accountants Board.

He has served on several high profile boards including Old Mutual Malawi plc, Reserve Bank of Malawi ( RBM), Malawi Revenue Authority ( MRA), Competition and Fair Trading Commission ( CFTC), Malawi Airlines, Lafarge Malawi Limited, Sunbird Tourism plc, MPICO plc, National Bank of Malawi plc ( NBM plc) and Power Market Limited.

Illovo Sugar Malawi plc is listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange with 76% of the issued share capital held by the Illovo Group and the balance by public and other institutional investors.

The company’s corporate office is based in Limbe, Blantyre with two operations at Nchalo in the southern part of Malawi in Chikwawa and Dwangwa in the mid-central region of Nkhotakota, producing sugar cane and raw, brown, and refined sugar, together with speciality sugars especially at Nchalo.

The company annually cultivates around 1.8 million tons of cane which together with approximately 350 000 tons produced by Malawian smallholder farmers, results in the production of about 250 000 tons of sugar.