Windhoek
His guidance and management of Agra can be considered one of the largest contributions to agriculture by an individual after Independence.
With these words James Chapman summed up Peter Kazmaier’s career of 20 years at Agra. Agra management, board members and invited guests said goodbye to Kazmaier as CEO of Agra at a farewell party on October 28 in Windhoek. Kazmaier, who retires on October 31, served as CEO of Agra for 20 years.
Kazmaier started his career at Agra in 1995 when the business was at an all-time low, but looks back at a number of challenges that have been overcome. At the function he sketched the Agra he entered in August 1995 and the challenges he faced at that stage and shared the highlights of milestones achieved over the past two decades.
James Chapman, who was the chairman of the Board of Agra in 1995 when Kazmaier was appointed, said the board at that time had a very important task to appoint the right person as CEO. He said there were no soft loans and industry protection back then, and commended the way in which Kazmaier and his team met the needs of clients and shareholders with what was financially achievable.
“He started as an outsider with no experience of or exposure to the agricultural sector,” said Ryno van der Merwe, chairman of the Board of Agra, in his farewell message.
Van der Merwe said despite the complexity of Agra’s business model, the company was turned around and grew from a turnover of N$413 million and a net loss before tax of N$2,3 million in the 1995/1996 financial year to a turnover of N$1,3 billion and net profit before tax of N$55 million in 2014/2015.
Arnold Klein, who takes over as CEO of Agra from Kazmaier said they had to “navigate many storms” in recent years: “Together we accepted the challenges, implemented business solutions and conquered the seemingly impossible.” He pledged to lead Agra to new heights.