The Board of Directors of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), one of Nigeria’s largest cement producers, has announced the appointment of Engr. Yusuf Binji as its new Managing Director effective September 1, 2018. Prior to this appointment, Binji was the Managing Director of Obu Cement Company (a subsidiary of BUA Cement), in Okpella, Edo State – a position he has held since February 2017. He takes over from Ibrahim Aminu who joins the larger BUA Group in an Executive Director capacity.
Speaking on this appointment, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of the CCNN Board of Directors, said Yusuf Binji’s appointment was part of a restructuring effort aimed at further positioning the company for better business performance.
Yusuf Binji brings with him solid experience from almost 3 decades in the African cement industry having worked with Heidelberg Africa, CCNN and BUA Cement in various capacities. Prior to joining BUA Cement, he was Technical Director at CCNN with responsibility for plant operations, maintenance, projects and power generation of the whole plant and was instrumental in the turning around of CCNN operations when BUA took over. Before then, he had worked extensively with Heidelberg Cement Africa. Whilst at Heidelberg Cement Africa, he underwent various foreign assignments to CEMENTA Slite Plant, Sweden and NORCEM Kjpsvik factory, Norway. He also undertook a joint project assignment to develop recommendations for harmonized control procedures around dispatch of cement at a few different plants in West and Central Africa (Ghacem, CimTogo, CimBenin, CCNN, TPCC and CimGabon) using a ‘best common procedure’ approach.
As Managing director at BUA Obu Cement, he was responsible for overseeing extensive growth in production volumes and sales, and solidifying BUA Cement’s place as the preferred brand in its key markets.
“We are thus confident in his ability to build on the gains recorded in recent years by CCNN and oversee new growth areas for the company,” Abdul Samad added.
A chemical engineer with degrees from Ahmadu Bello University and the University College, London, Engr Yusuf Binji is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers. He is also a registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and an associate member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK.
Yusuf Binji started his career in the cement industry with CCNN working across various departments before he rose through the ranks to become an Executive Director, Technical. He later joined BUA where he held various positions as Executive Director, Cement Porjects/Technical within the Group from 2013 to 2014 and Executive Director, Technical, BUA Obu Cement Company from 2014 to 2017. He was appointed as Managing Director, Obu Cement Company in 2017 and has held other roles including Board Member, Sokoto Energy Research Centre, Energy Commission of Nigeria (2002 – 2013).
An alumnus of the International Directors Programme at INSEAD, France, Yusuf Binji has attended various professional and management courses in Nigeria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, South Africa amongst others. He speaks regularly at conferences across the world.
