Danish shipping giant, Maersk, has appointed a female Nigerian, Lara Lana, as the head of its business unit in Nigeria, a feat attained by a Nigerian for the first time since the company began its global operations in 1996.
Lana resumed duty June 1, 2020 as the Country Manager in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.
Ever in its history in the country, this is the first time a Nigerian will be appointed into that exalted position, the first from the country also happens to be a female.
A Managing Director, who also doubled as the cluster head for the West and Central Africa sub-region, had managed the Maersk Nigeria business over the years.
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Beginning from June 1, Lana had taken over from Gildas Tohouo, Cameroonian, who served as Managing Director until December 2019.
Lana joined A.P. Moller-Maersk in 2002, and over the years, she has held various positions in West Africa and the United Kingdom for Maersk, Maersk Logistics/Damco and Safmarine.
“Now promoted to assume responsibility of Maersk Nigeria, Lara will continue in her role as Central West Africa Area Safmarine Manager, a position she was appointed to in 2013.
“She will be responsible for the business planning and execution for Maersk in Nigeria through optimization of company’s product portfolio and improved customer satisfaction,” Maersk said in a statement issued by its Africa Communications Manager, Kerry Rosser.
“I am pleased to welcome Lara Lana to the Central West Africa Area for Maersk, where she will play a key role in the acceleration of our integrator strategy.
Lara brings in-depth customer experience and local knowledge of the Nigerian market, which is a key country for Maersk within West Africa,” Thomas Theeuwes, who also succeeds Tohouo as the Managing Director, Maersk Central West Africa Area, said.
Lana, the new Country Manager said she is excited to take up the new role within Maersk, “so that we can continue to enable growth for our customers in Nigeria by creating value in competitive environments.”
According to Lana, Nigeria is a “great nation saturated with opportunities which, with the right collaborations, we can harness for the benefit of many.
“We will remain focused on our people, on putting our customers at the centre of everything we do and strengthening partnerships with stakeholders so that together we can go all the way in creating increased value.”
A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains.
As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs roughly 76,000 people.
It will be recalled that assailants had broken into Gildas Tohouo’s house December 8, 2019, the former Managing Director, attacking him and his wife, at his Ikoyi home in Lagos, and in the process, left the wife dead.
“I’m very sorry to confirm that a colleague and his family have been attacked in their residence in Lagos, Nigeria during the evening of 8 December 2019,” Maersk said in the statement issued by its spokesperson, Richard Smith.
