The appointments were agreed in a vote at the WCA General Assembly meeting on the 10 December 2020. The board of directors has a key role within the WCA, as it defines the objectives and strategy of the association as well as overseeing the professional running of the organisation and its activities. Board members are also responsible for ensuring members’ interests continue to be represented at all levels.
“It’s a great pleasure and honour for me to elected to this esteemed Board as a Director of the WCA,” said Mahendra Singhi. “Cement is considered as a hard to abate sector; the agenda before all of us is to be leaders and make the sector possible to abate. Decarbonisation is most important now, so we have to recommit and ask what we can do to tackle this issue and turn cement from grey to green. All these efforts need knowledge collaborations, and WCA clearly shares this ambition through its work on climate protection and sustainability. Together we will help each other to improve the industry’s environmental performance”.
Mahendra Singhi has had a central role in the growth and development of India’s cement sector for over 40 years. He leads Dalmia Cement (Bharat), an Indian cement major recognised for having the lowest carbon footprint of cement operations globally, as managing director and CEO.
“When I look at the membership of WCA, it is truly impressive. For companies that have been in this industry a long time, we have practised sustainability long before the word became popular and contributed to society in a positive way. I am impressed by the hard work and ambition of the WCA in bringing the global cement industry together to find innovative and collaborative solutions to our common problems,” Roland van Wijnen commented. “I am therefore excited and honoured to be joining the board, and look forward to supporting the WCA’s vision of sustainable growth and taking the industry to the next level of success.”
Roland van Wijnen brings more than 20 years of international CEO and consulting experience encompassing operations management, strategy planning and execution, business process re-engineering and people management and development.
Prior to his role as CEO at PPC, the largest African cement producer, van Wijnen worked at LafargeHolcim, for 17 years during which time he held various senior leadership roles across the group.
WCA CEO Ian Riley welcomed them both to their new positions: “I am delighted to welcome two such distinguished and well-respected executives as directors of the association. They have been great supporters of the WCA and their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm will be invaluable assets as we move into the next phase of our mission to promote a successful and sustainable cement industry worldwide.”
