The Office of the Chief Executive Officer is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Richard Mutonga Ibwima as the new Executive for Port Operations, effective 17 January 2022.
Prior to his appointment, Richard was employed as the Manager - Terminals, having joined Namport in December 1999. He has risen through the ranks having started his long and illustrious career with Namport as a Protection Services Officer in the Risk Management department.
He later moved to the Cargo Services department, as Cargo and Planning Coordinator and later on as a Port Operations Coordinator at the Container and General Cargo Terminals between 2004 and 2009. He was promoted to Container Terminal, where he remained until his temporary departure from Namport in April 2012.
Richard returned to Namport in April 2015, following a three (3) year stint in Sudan where he was employed as a Terminal Project Manager, where he gained immense international port management experience.
Upon his return to Namport, Richard worked as the Manager: Port Terminal Operations Planning until January 2016 and later transferred on to the position of Manager: Terminals, a position he held until his latest promotion. Since his return to Namport in April 2015, Richard has worked on strategic projects such as the Port Automation and Port Expansion Projects where he served as a Project Subject Matter Operations Lead, expertise he continues to render to date.
Richard holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), with a major in Port Management from the Middlesex University London (UK), obtained in 2015. He further possesses a Diploma in Port Management obtained from the Lloyd's Maritime Academy (UK), in 2006 and a Certificate in Marketing from the Institute of Marketing Management Graduate School of Marketing, (SA).
He has completed a Management Development Programme with the University of Stellenbosch Business School, among other professional development courses and certifications in Freight Forwarding, Logistics & Transport Planning in Freight Traffic, Project Management, Improvement of Port Cargo Transport Efficiency, Port Logistics, Port Regulations, Management and Operations, Container Terminal Management and International Management.
Richard has gained extensive leadership experience in the industry, and we are confident that he will play a significant role in cultivating the high-performance culture, which we are striving for in the Port Operations function in order for us to optimize efficiencies of our operations, maximize the satisfaction of our customers, and overall attain Namport’s strategic goals going forward.
We congratulate Richard on his appointment, and wish him success in his new role as we strive towards achieving our vision to be the best performing seaports in Africa.