The DRC’s state-owned mining company Gécamines has officially initiated the restructure of its business. This, according to media reports, is part of a transformation plan to bring the company back to a state of growth and profitability.
Albert Yuma-Mulimbi, president of the board of directors of Gécamines made the first announcement about the company’s transformation plan in June this year. Mr. Mulimbi made the official announcement marking the commencement of the same earlier on this week.
According to him, the reform is based on two main principles; decentralized management and promotion of young executives in the company. For the former, there is an organization chart based on a logic of empowered, integrated and autonomous business units. As for the latter, he said that the management is open to younger executives promoted mainly within the company. This, he says, will encourage current employees to use their best practice and knowledge of the company.
In a released statement, the company said all employee dismissals have ceased with immediate effect. Nonetheless, it went on to add that greater functional mobility will also be needed. This will help the workforce is best suited to cater to the needs of the company. As such, some of the employees included in the operational reserve will have the opportunity to be reassigned to new jobs in future projects. These could either be specific to Gécamines or those of partners.
The restructuring of the company will be led by EY, the international consulting firm, and world-class consulting organization. This, according to a timetable set to predict its feasibility will be implemented progressively. Towards this, the board of directors have reportedly made a series of appointments of new directors. This is in addition to the adoption of a new organizational chart. The reforms will see Gécamines get a structure that will adapt to the new standards in the mining industry.
