Our Leadership

Skills & Experience:

Founder of Arphilia Consulting, Richard Arlove counts nearly 40 years’ experience as a professional accountant, business leader, professional entrepreneur and member of the senior leadership team of a global firm. After 20 years’ career in Big Four accounting firms and as a General Manager of businesses in garment manufacturing and marketing of international brands, he co-founded and was the CEO of ABAX, a regulated financial, corporate and fiduciary services company. When ABAX was acquired by Ocorian, Richard Arlove was appointed Head of Africa, Middle East and Asia, and Group ExCo member of Ocorian. Richard Arlove retired from Ocorian in 2020.

Qualifications:

• Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA)

External appointments:

• Founder of Arphilia Consulting
• Co-Founder of ABAX
• Member of the Board of directors of Livestock feed Ltd

Core competencies:

• Accounting & Finance, Consultancy, Leadership, International Business, Governance, Marketing

Skills & Experience

Jan Boullé has been working for the Constance Group from 1984 to 2016 and occupied various executive positions and directorships. He has been appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of IBL Ltd on the 1st July 2016.

Qualifications:

• “Ingénieur Statisticien Economiste” – France
• Post Graduate studies in Economics – Université de Laval – Canada

External appointments

• Jan Boullé is a member of the Board of Directors of several major listed companies including BlueLife Limited, Lux Island Resorts Ltd, Phoenix Beverages Ltd, Phoenix Investment Company Limited, The United Basalt Products Limited and non-listed Mauritian companies.

Core competences

• Strategic Development, Hospitality and Real Estate Developmen

Skills and experience

Georges Desvaux is the Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer and Member of the Management Committee of the AXA Group, the global insurance leader. Prior to joining AXA, he was a Senior Partner in McKinsey & Company for 30-years in Europe, Asia and Africa, including Managing Partner of Japan and of Africa, member of McKinsey’s Shareholders Council and Chair of the Governance Committee. At McKinsey, Georges has co-authored several macroeconomics reports including “Lions on the Move 2” (McKinsey Global Institute 2016) and a book “Africa’s Business Revolution” (Harvard Business Review 2018). Georges is passionate about gender diversity and has co-founded in 2007 “Women Matter”, McKinsey’s research series on the role of women in corporations.

Qualifications

Graduated from Ecole Centrale Paris and holds a M.S. in Mech. Engineering from MIT.

External appointments

Chairman and member of the Management Committee of AXA ASIA, member of the Supervisory Board of GIE AXA, member of the Supervisory Board of AXA Climate, member of the Fund-Raising Europe Committee for Alima -the Alliance for International Medical Action – a leading NGO focused on medical support and medical innovation in Africa.

Core competencies

Corporate Strategy, Business Unit Strategy, Marketing and Growth Strategies, Governance and Organisation, Capabilities Insurance, Technology, Consumer and Retail.

Skills and experience

William Egbe is an engineer by training, a corporate executive, and a company director with almost thirty years of experience in leadership roles within American and British multinational companies, operating in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. He has held engineering, finance, marketing, manufacturing, and general management roles in the Telecoms, Oil & Gas, Food & Beverage, and Imaging industries. He has spent 19 years in general management and executive roles within the Coca-Cola Company, including serving as President for Coca-Cola’s business

in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also previously served as Managing Director for Kodak’s Dental products business for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, headquartered in Germany.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Howard University, USA.

External appointments in both listed and non-listed companies

• Independent Board Member, Tana Africa Capital (Mauritius)
• Board of Trustees, Jacobs Foundation (Switzerland)
• Board member, Essential Med Foundation (Switzerland)

Core competencies

General Management, Operations Optimization, Corporate Strategy, Franchise Operations, Investment and Growth Advisory, Business Operations in Africa, Europe, and Middle East.

Skills & Experience

Martine de Fleuriot heads the Commercial, Corporate and Banking department of ENSafrica (Mauritius), one of the largest law firm in Mauritius. She is an experienced Barrister and recognised as a leading lawyer by international directories such as Global Guide of Chambers and Partners, ILFR 1000 and Legal 500.

Qualifications

• Diplômes d’Etudes Approfondies – Mention Droit Privé – Université de Droit, d’Economie et des Sciences Sociales – Aix Marseille III
• Barrister’s Examination – Council of Legal Education Mauritius

External Appointments

• None.

Core competences:

• Law, M&A, Corporate Restructuring, Banking, Security law

Skills & Experience

Arnaud Lagesse is the Group CEO of IBL Ltd. He is one of the Mauritian private sector’s most prominent leaders and is known to drive IBL Group with innovative and challenging undertakings. In 2016, he initiated the merger of GML Investissement Ltée and Ireland Blyth Limited and created the new entity IBL Ltd which thus became the n°1 group in Mauritius and 2nd largest group in the region excluding South Africa.

Qualifications

• Breakthrough Executive Program – Egon Zehnder-Mobius, Portugal
• Advanced Management Program (AMP180) – Harvard Business School, United States
• Executive Education Program – INSEAD, France
• Graduated from the Institut Supérieur de Gestion – Paris, France
• Masters in Management – Université d’Aix-Marseille II, France

External appointments in both listed and non-listed companies

Chairman

• Bloomage Ltd
• Camp Investment Limited
• Fondation Joseph Lagesse
• Phoenix Beverages Limited
• Phoenix Investment Company Limited
• The Lux Collective Limited
• Miwa Sugar Ltd

Member of the Board of Directors

• IBL Ltd.
• Pick and Buy Limited
• Seafood Hub Limited
• Other non-listed Mauritian Companies

Core competences:

• Business & Finance, Deal Structuring, Strategic Business Development.

Skills & Experience

• Benoit Lagesse started his career with Touche Ross, then Canadian Pacific in London before moving to Zimbabwe to manage a farming business.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science (Computers) – Manchester University – England
• Chartered Accountant – England & Wales

External appointments

• Chairman of GML Ineo Ltée and Mon Loisir Ltée
• Member of the Board of Directors of Alteo Enery Ltd & Compagnie Sucrière de Saint Antoine

Core competences:

Finance, Accounting and Agriculture

Skills & Experience

• Hugues Lagesse is the CEO of BlueLife Limited, a Real Estate Company developing property in Mauritius. He has acquired considerable experience and competence in high market residential and mixed-use real estate.

Qualifications:

• Diploma in administration and Finance – Ecole Superieure de Gestion – Paris
• Management Program INSEAD – France
• Real Estate Program – Harvard Business School – United States
• General Management Program for Mauritius and South East Africa from ESSEC

External appointments

• Member of the Board of Directors Phoenix Beverages Limited
• Member of the Board of Directors of Phoenix Investment Company Limited

Core competences:

• Real Estate, Property development and management

Skills & Experience

Jean-Pierre Lagesse is a specialist in property investment, development, asset enhancement and portfolio management in London as partner of 10 Ant Group since 2007 and is responsible for the purchase and redevelopment of real estate, He has more than 20 years of experience in the sector, in Europe and Africa.

Qualifications

• MBA from Cramfield School of Management – UK

External appointments

• None.

Core competences:

• Property development, Real Estate

Skills and experience

Stéphane Lagesse is the Managing Director of Palmar Group, a garment factory based in Mauritius.

Education

• Diploma in Business Administration – Paris Dauphine

External appointments

• The United Basalt Products Ltd

Main skills

• Finance, textiles, industrial production, trade.

Skills & Experience

• Thierry Lagesse is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Palmar Group of Companies, one of the pioneer companies in the development of the textile industry in Mauritius. A visionary entrepreneur, he launched Direct To Home (DTC) satellite television company in the Indian Ocean Islands.

Qualifications

• Maitrise des Sciences de gestion – Université de Paris Dauphine

External appointments

• Is a member of the Board of Directors of several major listed Alteo Limited, Lux Island resorts, Phoenix Beverages Limited, Phoenix Investment Company Limited, The United Basalts Products Ltd and non-listed Mauritian companies

Skills and experience

Isabelle de Melo has held executive and leadership positions in various companies and institutions, including Arthur Andersen Audit, Gemplus, Privatair, SETE, Genève Sport and Association Nicolas Bogueret. She was also an independent consultant from 1998 to 2003, and has been a Business Angel (Investor and Coach) since 2009.

Qualifications

• HEC Paris – Paris, France

External appointments

• None

Core competencies

• Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions,
• Treasury, Tax, Human Resources,
• Information Technology.

Skills and experience

Momar Nguer worked for the TotalEnergies company for more than 36 years and held various positions during his career, both in Paris head office and in affiliates, mainly in Africa. For his last posting, he was President Marketing and Services, and member of the Executive Committee.

For the last three years, Momar had joined a diversified set of boards of companies in Europe and Africa.

Qualifications

• MBA of ESSAC Business School in France
• Master’s degree International Law Paris

External appointments

• Arise Ports and Logistics (UK)
• CFAO (France)
• ECP Power and Water Holding (France)
• Lafarge Holcim (Morocco)
• Sea-Invest (Luxembourg)
• NMA (Senegal)

Core competencies

Energy, distribution, talent acquisition, negotiations.

Skills and experience

Mr Rey is the Chief Executive Officer of Constance Group and bears the overall responsibility for  the agriculture, real-estate, hospitality and investment activities in which the Group is involved. Prior to holding his current post, he was Head of Investment and Development and has been actively involved in numerous Group corporate transactions. He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Business Law from the United Kingdom. Mr Rey is a director of several companies in the commercial, hospitality, agriculture,  financial, including fintech, sectors and member of various board committees.

Qualifications

• Master’s in Business Law from the UK

External appointments

• BMH Ltd
• Constance Hotels Services Limited
• Constance La Gaiete Company Limited
• Hotelest Limited
• Beauport Industries Limited
• Constance Industries Limited
• Constance Corporate Management Limited
• White Sand Paradise Ltd
• Constance Hospitality Management Ltd

Core competencies

• Strategic Development
• Investment
• Hospitality

Skills and experience

• Worked in Singapore for 10 years, as consultant in Supply Chain and Strategy at Accenture, then as Vice President of DHL’s Service Parts Logistics Business Unit for the Asia Pacific region.
• Joined IBL Ltd in 2008 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer for the Seafood Cluster in March 2015.  In that role, he oversaw local operations and its development internationally. Promoted as Group Head of Operations in August 2018, responsible for IBL Ltd’s manufacturing & Processing, Logistics, Commercial, Building & Engineering activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering – University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
• MBA – University of Chicago Booth School of Business, United States of America

External appointments

• Board member and chair of international and private companies

• Past Chairman of the Mauritius Exports Association (MEXA)
• Past Council Member of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI)

Core competencies

• Management
• Strategy
• Operations
• Restructuring