P&G Appoints Kumar MD for West Africa

Management of Procter & Gamble in Nigeria has announced the appointment of Manoj Kumar managing director, West Africa to replace Stanislav Vecera who is moving to South Africa as Managing Director, South & East Africa following organizational change in the company that will take effect from November 1, 2009:
Manoj Kumar, the new managing director has a wealth of experience in brand management, market development and business leadership in India, London and Geneva. He holds a degree in Engineering from IISC, Bangalore, India and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Stanislav Vecera, the outgoing M.D commented that “I am very pleased to hand over to Manoj Kumar. With his management and leadership experience in the P&G business in different parts of the world and his strong, consistent track record of business results; I couldn’t leave the company in better hands.”
Under Stanislav Vecera’s leadership, P&G West Africa has grown to become one of the fastest growing P&G operations in the world.
The company is rapidly expanding across various countries in West Africa and now also has a business office in Senegal that started operations in April 2008 to serve Franco-phone West Africa with Nigeria as P&G’s central production and business hub for all of West Africa. This expansion has led to new investments to extend its current manufacturing facilities in Ibadan and a plan to open a second manufacturing site in Nigeria.
In Nigeria for over 17years, the company’s commitment to social investment has resulted in the introduction of various programs on its Live, Learn and Thrive Platform, which reaches over 2million Nigerian children every year. Live, Learn and Thrive focuses on assisting the development of children ages 0 – 13 through programs that help ensure a healthy start in life, provide access to education and programs that help build their self-esteem, social skills and empower them.
Vecera re-iterated that Nigeria remains a focus for P&G, stating that with its political and economic stability, Nigeria’s population is an enormous source of strength and potential wealth. “I am convinced that this country is going to be a very big force in this world” he said.