Graeme Wild, currently Vice President Sales and Marketing at Sappi Southern Africa, succeeds Alex Thiel, who has been CEO of Sappi Southern Africa for 14 years and will now assume new strategic project duties until his retirement at the end of December 2025. Wild will be appointed CEO from 1 December 2024.
Steve Binnie, Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Limited, commented on the contribution of Thiel: ‘I would like to thank Thiel for his significant service to date to Sappi during his 34 years with the company and for the support he has shown me as CEO. He is an outstanding leader both for the company and for the industry. Returning from Sappi Europe in 2010, he led the restructuring and repositioning of the South African business to improve profitability, align with our group strategic objectives, and deliver on our sustainability commitments.’
‘The region streamlined and focused its operations and product portfolio, enhanced customer engagement, improved efficiencies as well as safety performance and implemented a number of expansion and performance improvement projects, including the recent dissolving pulp expansion and environmental improvements project at Saiccor Mill. I also wish to commend him on his leadership during the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruptions of 2021 and 2022.’
‘When I was appointed CEO in 2014, Thiel provided me with significant support, and he was a member of the executive committee that developed and rolled out our debt reduction and our Thrive business strategies. He successfully refocused the business on the dissolving pulp and containerboard segments with sales revenue increasing from R11,7 billion to R27,1 billion and EBITDA from R1,8 billion to a record R6 billion.’
Wild joined Sappi Southern Africa in 1995 as a forester rising to strategy manager for Sappi Forests before moving to Sappi Limited. In 2012 he was appointed group head investor relations and sustainability with additional responsibility for a global procurement optimisation work stream. He returned to Sappi Southern Africa in his current role in January 2021 with responsibility for the marketing and sales of all Sappi products in South Africa. He has overseen growth in the containerboard segment to supply the significant increase in demand from citrus exporters and the development of new packaging grades for the food (on-shelf) and fast-food (take-away) markets.
On the appointment of Graeme Wild, Steve Binnie said, ‘I am pleased that we are able to ensure a smooth transition in leadership from Thiel to Wild. Wild is an experienced leader who has served the group at a global level, has deep understanding of investors as well as the increased priority of sustainability concerns. He has been integral to the development and execution of Sappi’s strategy and the investments and decisions we have made in South Africa to ensure we maintain our domestic leadership in paper and packaging, along with our dissolving pulp and forestry asset investments. I am confident that under Wild’s leadership the business will take the next steps to ensure competitiveness and the adjustments required by our sustainability commitments, while delivering clear value to the communities where we operate.’
‘The appointment is testimony to the success of Sappi’s strong succession planning processes and the importance we place on stability and continuity during any such leadership transition.’
Wild holds a B.Sc. Forestry degree from University of Stellenbosch, an MBA (cum laude) from Gordon Institute of Business Science, as well as a Sappi MDP from SBL, UNISA and he has completed the Executive Education programme at Harvard Business School, USA.
