Olam taps into expertise of Crown Flour Mills MD to lead Olam Agri as Country Head in Nigeria
NIGERIA – Olam has named Ashish Pande as the new Country Head of its food, feed and fiber operating unit, Olam Agri in Nigeria effective 23rd August 2022.
Prior to his new appointment, Ashish was the Managing Director & Senior Vice President of Crown Flour Mills, Olam’s subsidiary in Nigeria.
Having worked with the group for over 5 years, holding different positions, Ashish was instrumental in establishing Olam Agri’s animal feed business, successfully integrating the acquired Dangote Flour Mills, setting up Crown Flour Mills’ extensive fleet operations, and overall leading a successful wheat milling business in the West African country.
According to reports by the Guardian Nigeria, Ashish’s immense contribution to national productivity through its leadership of Crown Flour Mills, was recently recognised by the Nigerian government and awarded the Presidential “Productivity Order of Merit Award” by H.E. Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Ashish an Engineer with a master’s degree in Business Administration, has more than 22 years of experience in the FMCG market having worked with a number of multinational companies across Africa, Asia and Europe
He will lead Olam Agri to its next stage of growth in Nigeria, which is an important market for the company globally.
At the global front, Olam Agri recently secured a US$2.9 billion loan facility based on Poseidon Principles, which provide a framework for integrating climate considerations into lending decisions to promote international shipping’s decarbonization.
The principles are consistent with the policies and ambitions of the International Maritime Organization, including its ambition for greenhouse gas emissions to peak as soon as possible and to reduce shipping’s total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050.
N Muthukumar, Group CFO of Olam Group and CEO of Operations at Olam Agri said the facility is closely aligned with Olam Agri’s purpose of transforming food, feed and fiber for a more sustainable future and strengthens the company’s resolve to improve carbon management in its freight business.
The Facility, which is guaranteed by Olam Group, has Olam Agri subsidiaries Olam Global Agri Pte. Ltd. and Olam Global Agri Treasury Pte. Ltd. as coborrowers with a tenor of three years.
Proceeds from the Facility will be applied towards refinancing of Olam Agri’s existing loans and for general corporate purposes.
With a strong presence in high-growth emerging markets and products across grains & oilseeds, animal feed & protein, rice, edible oils, specialty grains & seeds, cotton, wood products, rubber and commodity financial services, Olam Agri is at the heart of global food and agri-trade flows with more than 40 million MT in volume traded annually.
Focused on transforming food, feed and fibre for a more sustainable future, it aims at creating value for customers, enable farming communities to prosper sustainably and strive for a food-secure future.
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