Al Mada, the household workplace of Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, appointed Noufissa Kessar as president and chief govt officer, elevating a protracted serving insider after the dying of Hassan Ouriagli in Paris earlier this month.
The management change, efficient instantly, was accepted by the board of the Casablanca primarily based holding firm. Ouriagli led the group by a decade of enlargement and a stronger tilt towards Africa, changing into a low profile however pivotal determine within the nation’s company scene.
Kessar constructed her profession largely inside Al Mada’s ecosystem. She began within the group’s banking arm at Attijariwafa Financial institution, engaged on the structuring and rollout of monetary initiatives tied to precedence sectors. She later moved to the holding firm, rising to deputy CEO and taking a palms on function in strategic initiatives and lengthy vary planning.
Her promotion underscores a continuity play at a conglomerate with stakes throughout banking, mining, retail and vitality. Its strikes ripple by Morocco’s boardrooms and throughout elements of West and Central Africa, the place the group has sought to again industries it sees as foundational to development.
Individuals aware of Kessar’s work describe her as operationally targeted and methodical, with a status for pushing initiatives from concept to execution. She is a graduate of the Swiss Federal Institute of Expertise in Lausanne and has been a part of the administration cohort tasked with modernizing mature property whereas constructing new platforms in sooner rising markets.
The board has framed the transition as stability first, with Kessar anticipated to consolidate ongoing adjustments whereas pursuing innovation, sustainable development and tighter operational self-discipline. That mandate arrives as many African economies cope with uneven development, pricier financing and sharper scrutiny of environmental and social practices, particularly in mining and energy.
Al Mada has more and more offered itself as a long run investor backing initiatives positioned as delivering constructive influence, aligning with regional efforts to channel capital into infrastructure, business and jobs. On the similar time, the group’s scale means its portfolio firms usually sit on the middle of debates about competitors, pricing energy and company governance.
Key holdings embrace Attijariwafa Financial institution, one of many largest lenders, mining firm Managem, and renewable vitality developer Nareva, in addition to pursuits in client and distribution companies. These property give the group publicity to commodity cycles and demand, and so they tie its technique to coverage shifts in Rabat and throughout the continent.
Kessar inherits each the benefits and the constraints of that footprint: deep networks, a sizeable stability sheet and regular entry to deal stream, alongside heightened expectations from regulators, companions and the general public. The way in which she balances enlargement past Morocco with efficiency at residence will form the subsequent chapter for a bunch that helps set the tempo for company Africa.
