Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yves Mayilamene has over 25 years’ experience in human resources in multinational companies. He will take up his new position in mid-September.
In an internal memo sent to Glencore employees, Mark Davis, CEO Copper Africa at Glencore, announced the appointment of Yves Mayilamene as Regional HR Manager for Copper Africa.
“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Yves Mayilamene, a seasoned business leader and international human resources executive, as the Regional HR Lead for Copper Africa.
,” the note states.
Glencore is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of copper and one of the world’s largest producers of cobalt (a major by-product of copper production) primarily from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the company had 8,700 employees by the end of 2022 and 7650 contractors as at end of 2022.
Yves Mayilamene, it explains, brings extensive HR leadership experience across Africa and Europe, having worked in the Telecommunications, FMCG, and Banking sectors. “His genuinely international and cross-cultural perspective is backed by his work experience covering multiple geographies while living in Togo, Nigeria, DRC, Senegal, Kenya, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Additionally, Yves possesses a deep and wide-ranging knowledge of all HR disciplines, sub-Saharan labor laws, workplace culture, industrial relations, HR transformation and a keen eye on Africa’s executive talent pool, particularly in French-speaking Africa.,” says Mark Davis.
In this role, Yves will report to the CEO of Copper Africa and have a functional reporting line to Sarah Kane, Copper’s Head of HR. He will also have functional leadership over the HR leaders at Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), Mutanda Mining (MUMI) and Glencore DRC (GDRC).
Kamoto Copper Company – KCC – is a copper and cobalt producer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, jointly owned by Glencore (75%) and Gécamines (25%).
A successful career with Ecobank
Yves Mayilamene possesses a truly international and intercultural mindset and a very strong ability to manage diverse business environments with cultural sensitivity. In addition, he has a deep and broad knowledge of all human resources disciplines, combined with excellent commercial and financial skills, first-rate communication and interpersonal skills, as well as an in-depth knowledge and understanding of labor law, the culture and industrial relations environment of sub-Saharan Africa and the pool of African executives (particularly from French-speaking Africa). He also offers first-rate training and facilitation skills.
Prior to his appointment, Yves Mayilamene was, since 2018, Human Resources Director of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Group, ETI, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, based in Lomé. Prior to this role, he was Deputy Director of Human Resources for the Ecobank Group and Director of Human Resources for Ecobank Nigeria. He joined Ecobank in 2012 with experience covering all aspects of human resources in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
Standards of excellence in human resources
During Yves Mayilamene’s tenure as Ecobank Group Human Resources Director, the pan-African bank won the coveted “Best Place to Work in Africa” award in 2022, presented by the “Best Place to Work” organization. This award recognizes organizations that demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in human resources (HR) practices and employee experience.
The certification program involves rigorous assessment and rankings based on the results of robust, objective evaluations carried out at different hierarchical levels and across all HR operations and procedures. It includes a human resources assessment and an employee appraisal survey. Areas covered include HR practices, compensation, benefits, leadership, teamwork, employee engagement and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The assessment process enabled Ecobank Group to achieve a total certification score of 79% – any percentage above 75% is considered high. The Best Place to Work accreditation certification is for one year (November 2022-November 2023).
After receiving the award on behalf of Ecobank, Yves Mayilamene commented: “We support and empower our talent to excel in an enabling and conducive working environment while investing in their growth and wellbeing. At Ecobank, we always seek to provide our staff with opportunities to advance and achieve their full potential through our learning and development initiatives. This Best Place to Work Award is a tribute to our Ecobankers’ commitment to exhibiting and living our values, as well as creating the right corporate culture.”
A corporate culture and a conducive working environment that Glencore’s new Head of Human Resources in Africa intends to develop within the Group, as he has done in his previous positions.
Instilling a new corporate culture
Yves Mayilamene began his professional career with British American Tobacco (BAT) in the DRC, as a graduate trainee, and held various management positions in human resources in the DRC, Switzerland, Senegal and Kenya. He then moved to the telecommunications sector to become Human Resources Director for French-speaking Africa at Celtel/Zain. In this position, he was responsible for defining and executing human resources strategy and plans for all French-speaking operations in Africa, including Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, DRC and Madagascar. He was also a permanent member of Zain Africa’s Executive Committee.
In 2010, he was appointed Director of Human Resources for all of Africa at Airtel, covering 16 countries: Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Madagascar, Ghana, Seychelles and Rwanda.
From 2006 to 2012, Yves Mayilamene was also a administrator/board member of Airtel Niger.
Yves Mayilamene holds a master’s degree in economics, finance and management (commercial engineering) from the University of Mons in Belgium, where he was also elected president of the Mons African Students’ Association. He also holds various certificates and executive diplomas in leadership, change management and other human resources-related fields.
He is fluent in English, French and Swahili.
