Kenyan agri-tech firm Twiga Foods has appointed Charles Ballard as the new chief executive following the exit of founding CEO Peter Njonjo.
Until this appointment, Ballard was CEO of e-commerce platform Jumia in Kenya, a position he assumed in April last year to replace Juan Seco who left after an eight-year tenure.
“With a career spanning over 15 years, out of which nine were in the Kenyan market, Ballard brings a wealth of experience in e-commerce, retail, and financial services. Most recently, Ballard was CEO of Jumia Kenya where he led the transformation of the business toward profitability,” the statement reads in part.
In his new role, the appointee will oversee all aspects of Twiga’s business with support from a range of senior leaders as the firm seeks to redefine its goal of turning around food supply chains in Africa.
Welcoming his new appointment, Ballard expressed optimism that he would steer the firm in taking advantage of its pivotal position to enhance operations, technology as well as user experience with a larger goal of creating significant value for all stakeholders and the ecosystem.
“I am deeply committed to developing our team and fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence that will drive us into our next phase of growth,” he stated.
Twiga’s ex-CEO Njonjo bowed out of the firm he co-founded a decade ago in January and exited its board in a development that effectively handed over full control of the firm to foreign shareholders.
His exit came at a time Twiga had just come out of a protracted chain of operational headwinds, ranging from staff layoffs to deferred payments owed to suppliers, as well as delayed salaries that saw it announce a 40 percent cut on its headcount last year.
The company first made public the exit of Mr Njonjo on December 14 last year when it announced that the long-serving CEO had taken a six-month leave just after he steered the firm to close a new round of funding estimated at Sh5.5 billion.
