Seed Co Limited Board

David E. B. Long

Group Chairman

David is an independent business advisory consultant. His primary focus is on strategic planning and change management initiatives as well as corporate finance transactions. His work also involves arbitration, mediation and high-end mentoring. He was educated at the Universities of Rhodesia and Cape Town obtaining a Bachelor of Law degree and an MBA. He undertook further studies through Sundridge Park, Wharton, Harvard and Regents College. David is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, and past president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries. He serves as the Beit Trust Representative in Africa. He is a director of several quoted and unlisted companies, currently including CABS Building Society, Colcom Holdings and Tsebo Servcor. David is a member of the Seed Co Group Remuneration and Nominations Committee and of the boards of both Seed Co Malawi and Seed Co Zambia.

Pearson Gowero

Group Deputy Chairman

Pearson Gowero is currently the Chief Executive of Delta Corporation Limited, the leading beverages company in Zimbabwe, having joined Delta in 1997 as Marketing Director of the then Chibuku Breweries Division and becoming the unit managing director in 2001. He has held various senior positions in the beverages business and became an executive director in 2003. Pearson spent some 5 years on secondment to the SABMiller Group from 2006 to 2011 where he was the Managing Director of Zambian Breweries Group. Prior to joining Delta, he had worked for some prominent clothing retail chains. Mr Gowero sits on the various boards of the Delta subsidiary and associate companies and holds BSc (Hon) degree in Economics and an MBA.

Morgan Nzwere

Group Chief Executive Officer

Morgan is a Chartered Accountant who holds a Masters in Business Leadership from the University of South Africa and has also attended the Strategy Master Academy at the University of Cape Town’s Business School. He attended the Advanced Management Programme 181 at Harvard Business School in Boston. Morgan has been involved in the seed industry since 1998 having joined the company back then as Chief Financial Officer. He has previously held senior corporate positions with entities in the Mining, Manufacturing, Retail, Banking and Real Estate industries. He sits on the Boards of FBC Bank and TSL Limited.

John Matorofa

Group Chief Financial Officer

John qualified is a Chartered Accountant having trained with Deloitte & Touché Chartered Accountants Zimbabwe after graduating with a B.Acc (Hon) degree from the University of Zimbabwe. He holds an MBA from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He successfully completed the Senior Executive Leadership Program at the London Business School in 2012. John has over 12 years’ experience in the seed industry working for Seed Co. Before joining Seed Co in 2004, John held senior financial management roles with a number organisations that include the Lonrho Group, Zimbabwe Newspapers and PG Industries.

Dr. Dahlia Garwe

Non Executive Director

Dahlia joined the Seed Co Limited board in February 2011. She is a holder of a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cape Town and also holds an MSc degree in Biotechnology from the University of Zimbabwe as well as a BSc (Hon) degree in Biochemistry from the same University. Additionally, she has completed an Executive Diploma in Business Leadership. Dahlia rose through the ranks and is currently the General Manager of the Tobacco Research Board having worked for the Research Board in various capacities since 1991. Although her primary qualification is Molecular Biology, Dahlia has since been exposed to management at senior level and the implementation of Quality Management Systems. She has several peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed papers and articles to her credit and is a Fellow of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences. Dahlia sits on the Boards of a number of diverse companies and institutions that include Minerva Risk Advisers, Harare Institute of Technology and the Research Council of Zimbabwe. She has great interest in issues of food security and works with regional organizations such as the Regional Agricultural and Environmental Innovations Network-Africa (RAEIN-Africa) whose mission is to facilitate and build resilient food systems and environments.

Regis Fournier

Non Executive Director

Régis is the CEO of Limagrain Field Seeds and member of Limagrain Group Executive Committee since August 2019. He studied Agronomy in Montpellier and Paris and holds a Master in Agronomy.

He began his career in 1992 in Maisadour, a cooperative group in the South of France, and progressed to marketing and sales functions before becoming Director of the Seeds Branch in 2003. He has been Director of Innovation and International Development of the whole Maïsadour Group, and lately oversaw all the Vegetal productions and business in the Group.

Régis served as member of Maisadour Group Management Committee and Board, and General Manager of Mas Seeds, a JV between Maisadour and Syngenta. He was also Chairman of Euroseeds from 2018 to 2021, the trade association for the seed industry in the European Union and the European Economic Area, and member (previously Chairman) of Union Française des Semenciers (UFS), the French seed association for seed companies and plant breeders.

Andrew Barron

Non Executive Director

Andrew Barron is a farmer and managing director of Mbabzi Estates Limited and Lincoln Investments Limited. He continues to serve on a number of boards including Press Corporation PLC, Mpico PLC, Seed Co Malawi (Chairman), Mpico Malls Limited, Team Planet Limited and Plantation House Investments.

Patrick Spadin

Non Executive Director

Patrick is currently the Head of Development (M&A), Strategic Intelligence at GROUPE LIMAGRAIN. He has close to thirty years of executive experience in seed and agribusiness industries spanning all continents. Before joining Limagrain, Patrick held senior management positions at Syngenta in several countries.

He holds an MBA from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, a Masters in Agronomy from Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech – Université de Liège in Belgium.

Frederic Savin

Non Executive Director

Frédéric is the CEO of Limagrain Africa, and he has been with the Limagrain Group for the whole of his career, in various roles in seeds businesses. He joined Vilmorin as Product Manager (vegetable seeds) in 1988 and later became Marketing Director.

He continued his career with Harris Moran Seed Co, a Limagrain subsidiary, as Sales Manager for Europe. Frederic subsequently moved to the Vilmorin’s subsidiary in Turkey for 8 years, where he worked in the field seeds, vegetable seeds, fertilizers, and home-garden products.

Frederic is an Agricultural Engineer and French Foreign Trade Advisor.

Tineyi Chatiza

Group Corporate Secretary

Tineyi has close to 20 years of experience in corporate finance, accounting, governance, compliance, and risk management covering multi-sectors. Prior to joining Seed Co in 2018, he spent nearly 10 years in charge of corporate finance at one of the leading investment banking boutiques, Corporate Excellence, in Zimbabwe.

Tineyi holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Studies and qualified fully with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) as well as the Institute of Bankers of Zimbabwe (IOBZ). In addition, he is an Associate Member of the Institute of Risk Management of South Africa, and a Public Accountant registered with the Public Accountants and Auditors Board of Zimbabwe (PAABZ).