Samuel Samo Gudo: The first Mozambican appointed to head Mozal

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Samuel Samo Gudo: The first Mozambican appointed to head Mozal

8:20 CAT | 16 Sep 2016

O País / Samuel Samo Gudo

South32, the Australia-based company that operates the Mozal aluminium smelter on the outskirts of Maputo, has appointed Mozal’s first Mozambican president.

He is engineer Samuel Samo Gudo, who took up his new position on 1 September. Samo Gudo has been working at Mozal since 1999, initially as a maintenance superintendent. He later served the smelter in a series of senior posts, including manger of external relations, manager of the smelting department, manager of the carbon department, manager of the maintenance department, and general manager of the operational area.

He takes over from Danie Murray, who has been transferred to South32’s Africa regional office in South Africa, where he becomes deputy president for health and safety.

A Mozal statement on the appointment cites Mike Fraser, Africa president of South32, as saying “Samo Gudo is the first Mozambican citizen to be appointed to head the Mozal operation. This appointment reflects our commitment to the development of the local work force. It’s a significant step in guaranteeing the diversity of our leadership team at Mozal, and better reflects the demographic situation we are operating in”.

South32 was spun out of the mining giant BHP-Billiton in May 2015. As part of the demerger, South32 took over what had been BHP-Billiton mines and processing plants in Australia Colombia, and South Africa, as well as Mozal in Mozambique.

South32 is the major shareholder in Mozal and the operator. It owns 47.1 per cent of the smelter. The other shareholders are the Japanese company Mitsubishi (25 per cent), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa (24 per cent), and the Mozambican state (3.9 per cent).

Construction of Mozal began in 1998, and the smelter has been in operation since 2000. It is far and away the largest industry in Mozambique, and is the second largest aluminium smelter in Africa.

Source: AIM