By Chisomo Phiri
The Board of Directors of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation(ADMARC) has announced the appointment of Daniel Baxter Makata as the ADMARC limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective July 1,2023.
In a statement 247 Malawi has in possession, ADMARC limited Board Chairperson Zachary Mark Kasomekera says Makata’s appointment follows a resolution that the Board made aimed at implementing a comprehensive structuring of ADMARC limited.
“The Board approved a news structure for the company that should be equipped with new skills to take the new ADMARC forward.”
According to Kasomekera, the new ADMARC CEO is expected to provide strategic leadership and direction to the company.
Makata has a strong profile having served as the Deputy Executive Chief Officer for Select Financial Services, Group Head of Operations and Administration at Elecrocad systems, Head of Mobile and Digital Business at Finca Malawi, Chief Commercial Officer at TNM Malawi and Operations Manager at Press Properties.
He holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Business Administration, and is currently a member of Institute of Marketing in Malawi.
Makata brings to ADMARC a unique combination of commercial strategy, business innovation, managerial leadership, operations management, financial management, and strategic planning which are skills required to achieve results in the new ADMARC limited.
Simply put, ADMARC, was formed in Malawi in 1971 as government-owned corporation or parastatal to promote the Malawian economy by increasing the volume and quality of its agricultural exports, to develop new foreign markets for the consumption of Malawian agricultural produce and to support Malawi’s farmers.
It was the successor of a number of separate marketing boards of the colonial-era and early post-colonial times, whose functions were as much about controlling African smallholders or generating government revenues as in promoting agricultural development.
At its foundation, ADMARC was given the power to finance the economic development of any public or private organisation, agricultural or not.