SOUTH AFRICA – Land Bank, government owned development bank and the biggest lender to farmers in South Africa, has announced the appointment of Khensani Mukhari, the bank’s CFO, as acting chief executive officer until the appointment of a permanent CEO is made.

Mukhari’s appointment follows the resignation of the outgoing CEO, Ayanda Kanana, who left the Bank on 31 April 2022.

Kanana joined the bank at a very difficult time and has been instrumental in leading the entity’s turnaround efforts.

In 2020, the institution defaulted on R50 billion debt commitments as many of its customers battled to repay their loans mainly due to a drought.

It has since received a R3 billion capital injection from the government and will get a further R7 billion over the next 3 years.

Under Kanana’s leadership, the Land Bank has also recorded significant progress in critical areas of its stabilisation drive, in collaboration with its funders with the support of the National Treasury.

The acting CEO, Mukhari joined the Bank as its CFO in February 2020. She has a solid track record as a strategic finance executive, including fourteen (14) years of leadership experience in the financial services sector before joining Land Bank.

Ms Mukhari is a qualified Chartered Accountant who also holds a Master of Business Leadership (MBL) postgraduate degree.

The bank has also appointed Dorothy Kobe as acting chief financial officer (CFO) with immediate effect.

She will hold the position until Mukhari returns to her role as CFO. Kobe is a qualified financial practitioner with 15 years of experience.

Both Mukhari and Kobe will be supported by the existing executive management team with a wealth of experience and expertise in the financial services sector, and in particular, the agricultural development finance industry.

The process for the expeditious recruitment of a permanent CEO has been initiated.

Meanwhile, the bank has also announced the departure of Dr Litha Magingxa who is the executive manager for agricultural economics and advisory, and also acting executive manager for strategy and communication.

Magingxa has been with the Land Bank for four years, and the institution said he had greatly improved the effectiveness of it the entity’s advisory services and has led the bank’s Strategy Division as the entity navigates the current set of challenges.

The board conveyed its continued commitment to diligently build on the momentum towards the implementation of a solution to cure its current state of default.

It said it was prioritising the realignment of the entity with its core developmental mandate.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the departing members of our team and express our appreciation for their contributions as they pursue new opportunities,” said Land Bank chairman Thabi Nkosi.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE