BUSINESS REPORTER
Resources group, RioZim Limited, has appointed Manit Mukesh Shah
as CEO with effect from July 1.
He takes over from Bhekinkosi Nkomo whose term ends on June 30 following his decision to step down to pursue other career opportunities, the company said yesterday.
Nkomo’s eight years at RioZim saw him serving in various capacities, rising through the ranks to CEO in 2017.
Shah has been heavily involved in both the operations and management of the company as chief operations officer and has led “teams that have unlocked value across all the six operations of RioZim.
He also sits on the board as an executive director.
“For close to seven years, Manit has played an integral part in the
strategic development and plan execution at RioZim Limited.
During his time with the company, he has consistently shown a strong strategic and operating acumen as well as demonstrated a longstanding commitment to environmental and social responsibility within mining, which is central to RioZim’s decision making and corporate strategy,” RioZim said.
“Having lived and worked in four continents, he brings to the steering
wheel, innovation and high growth strategies obtained through extensive exposure gained across diverse industries.”
Shah earned his Master’s in Finance and attended LMBS and the
London School of Economics. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India and the ISACA in the USA. Manit is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.
The appointment of the new CEO comes at a time the resources group has been forced to stop gold mining operations due to a failure to meet operating costs.
In a cautionary statement last week, RioZim said the fixed exchange of 1:25 was unviable for the 30% receipts which the miner gets in local currency as it was unable to meet its operational costs. The company said it was owed US$2.4m and US$65.5m by Fidelity Printers and Refiners on gold sales.
In its financials for the year ended December 31, 2019, the group’s production performance declined by 7% to 1 658 kg of gold against
the prior year’s production of 1 792 kg.
The low production volumes were attributed to incessant power cuts of up to 18 hours per day, which hampered production at all of the group’s mines from Q2 2019.
“In addition to the power cuts, the Group also suffered from breakdowns on the mills section at its Cam & Motor plant,” RioZim said.
