Chris Venter will step down as CEO of AFGRI Group Holdings (AGH) after 11 years in the role and a total of 15 years’ service to the group in various capacities.
Tinus Prinsloo has been appointed as his successor.
Prinsloo joined AGH in 2006, and served as CEO of AFGRI Operations until becoming CEO of AFGRI Silo Company in mid-2019.
Venter will support Prinsloo and the board to ensure a smooth handover in the coming months.
“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Chris for his leadership and substantial contribution as CEO over this past decade. He was instrumental in reshaping the group around a vision to drive food security in the region through a focus on the grain value chain,” comments AGH chairperson Michael Wilkerson.
“Chris played a leading role in positioning AGH as a leading agricultural, financial services and foods business in South Africa and beyond,” he adds.
AGH points out that Venter, during his tenure, successfully established significant strategic pillars of operation around agriculture, food, financial services and corporate social investment, while undertaking a programme for the divestiture of several noncore businesses, and strengthening the group’s capital structure.
This process culminated in the establishment of a strategic infrastructure platform – AFGRI Silo Company – in 2019.
During this period, the group’s broad-based black economic empowerment rating improved from Level 6 to Level 3.
Meanwhile, Johan Geel will also rejoin AGH as COO. He had most recently served as group FD for GWK; and previously worked with AGH for over 22 years in a variety of roles.