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Board of directors

Philippe Croonenberghs
(1950)
Expiration of mandate 2023
President, non-executive

After graduating from University of Antwerp (UFSIA) with a master’s degree in applied economic sciences, Philippe Croonenberghs began his career with a three-year posting in Iraq after completing his military duty as a special forces officer. He joined TEXAF in 1985. Put in charge of investments by the shareholder Cobepa, he fulfilled various directorships between 1992 and 2002 within companies such as Ibel, Zénitel, Uco, Aon and Fortales. In 2002, he organized an MBO of TEXAF and, on his initiative and under his direction, TEXAF reoriented its business model, abandoning the heavily loss-making textile business in favor of a real estate business. He has been CEO of TEXAF for 20 years and chairman of the Board since 2017.

Dominique Moorkens
(1948)
Expiration of mandate 2024
Vice-president, non-executive

Dominique Moorkens began his career within the Alcopa family group as an automobile dealership manager. He took over as director in 1981 and in this role he restructured the group, based on the principles of good governance. The Alcopa group, of which he was CEO and chairman of the board for very many years, is active in the distribution of two- and four-wheeled vehicles. It has turnover exceeding EUR 2 billion, generated in Europe and internationally. The group employs more than 2,300 people.

Dominique Moorkens is also a director of Carmeuse, and chairman of the board of Coprem and Connect Group. He is involved in numerous organizations dedicated to philanthropy and entrepreneurship; chairman of the Board of Pulse Foundation as well as Mékong Plus. He is honorary consul of the Republic of Korea.

Vincent Bribosia
(1960)
Expiration of mandate 2023
representative of Chanic s.a. Independent

Vincent Bribosia has an MA in Law (Université de Liège) and a master’s degree in management from CEPAC (ULB). He has also followed executive education programs at the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School. He joined TEXAF from the Suez-Société Générale de Belgique group where he held various positions, including chief of staff of the CEO, Gérard Mestrallet. He was secretary and member of the Management Board of Société Générale de Belgique and a director of numerous companies, including Finoutremer s.a., Chanic s.a. as well as several unlisted companies. He was also on the staff of the minister for employment (1983-86). In 2000 Vincent Bribosia acquired Suez-Société Générale de Belgique group’s stake in Chanic and is now its chairman.

Charlotte Croonenberghs
(1989)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Non-executive

Charlotte Croonenberghs is a Master of Laws (Leuven). After various traineeships (Alpro, Beiersdorf), including four months in the political and economic section of the Belgian Embassy in Bangkok, she gained a master’s degree in European business (MEB), graduating magna cum laude from ESCP Europe (Paris and London). She is currently group marketing manager at L'Oréal. She is the daughter of Philippe Croonenberghs.

Isabelle Esselen
(1985)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Independent

Isabelle Esselen grew up in DRC, a scion of a large family of logistics entrepreneurs in the east of DRC. She graduated magna cum laude with a master’s in business engineering. She began her career as head of supplies for the United Nations in Goma (DRC). Returning to Belgium, she spent four years improving the logistics and implementation of the SAP management system at Distriplus.

She was subsequently hired by Riaktr (formerly Real Impact Analysis) to deploy IT and analytical solutions in several countries of Africa that enable telecoms companies and banking institutions to collect user data and so gain a better understanding of users in order to make well-informed strategic decisions. At the end of 2017 she moved to Zurich, Switzerland to work for Johnson & Johnson as strategic supply chain project manager.

Christophe Evers
(1960)
Expiration of mandate 2023
CFO, Executive

After graduating in business engineering at Solvay Brussels School (ULB), Christophe Evers began his career at Umicore. In 1989 he joined Cobepa, where he became CFO and joined the executive committee. In 2001 he joined the executive committee at bpost, with responsibility for Business development, real estate and all non Mail and Retail activities. From 2004 to 2010 he was a partner at Drakestar Partners, an investment bank specialized in technology. Christophe Evers is a professor at the Solvay Brussels School and author of several publications.

Joseph Fattouch
(1990)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Independent

Holder of a master’s in business engineering (summa cum laude) from Solvay Brussels School (ULB), as a consultant at McKinsey and Roland Berger he provided services to several industrial companies on major strategic, operational and technological subjects. He was an advisor to two Belgian ministers (including the current prime minister), he has directed Belgian digital, artificial intelligence and digital
skills policy, he founded AI4Belgium and he has chaired the
Data Against Corona working group. He currently works
at Waterland, an independent investment capital firm that focuses on growing Belgian SMEs. He has also helped Texaf set up its digital campus in Kinshasa and develop its technology investment strategy. He supports the Samilia
Foundation (combating human trafficking), as well as helping to establish UNICEF’s biggest (USD 500 million) four-year program in Lebanon. He was also named among Belgium’s “40 under 40”. 
 

Michel Gallez
(1958)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Non-executive

A graduate of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Brussels, he has a long experience in textiles in Africa. He was first seconded to Kinshasa by the British group Tootal Textiles as financial manager of CPA Zaire and, in 1994, he worked in the Cha group, for which he set up a distribution channel for textile products throughout Africa; he held various posts as financial and general manager and sat on the board of several group companies. He was the last general manager of Congotex and is currently executive director of United Nigerian Textiles, the largest group of textile factories in Nigeria.

Danielle Knott
(1968)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Independent

Danielle Knott was born in Kinshasa. She is a Master of Laws, graduating cum laude from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and holds an MBA from the Ecole de Perfectionnement en Management. She was an attorney at law for five years, before joining the Carmeuse Group in the human resources department. Danielle Knott is currently heading this department. Alongside this responsibility in Europe and North America, she is in charge of various assignments entrusted to her by the CEO of Carmeuse. Danielle Knott recently took over the management of a new business unit created in Groupe Carmeuse, in addition to her human resources responsibilities.

Pascale Tytgat
(1960)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Independent

A business engineering graduate of Solvay (1983) and IFRS-certified from Université Catholique de Louvain (2005), Pascale Tytgat is statutory auditor (1990). She is founding managing partner of BST Réviseurs d’Entreprises (1991). She has sat on the qualification examination jury of the Institute of Statutory Auditors of Belgium since 2006 and was a member of its Quality Control Commission for 20 years (1995-2016). She has also accomplished many financial expertise assignments in Belgium and France.

Jean-Philippe Waterschoot
(1963)
Expiration of mandate 2023
Executive, CEO (from May 9, 2017)

A civil engineer who graduated from the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Université libre de Bruxelles (ICME 88), Jean-Philippe Waterschoot began his career at the TEXAF group in Lubumbashi in 1989. He held various operational posts at the UTEXAFRICA textile factory, and was its managing director up to the time when the textile branch merged with Congotex. He is director of the National Business Federation of Congo, director and permanent representative of the CBL-ACP Chamber of Commerce, vice-president of the Belgo-Congolese CCBCL Chamber of Commerce, director of several non-profit and business associations in DRC and Advisor in Economic Diplomacy with the Belgian Embassy in Kinshasa. He is an Officer of the Order of Leopold.

Herman De Croo
(1937)
Expiration of mandate
Honorary director since January 1, 2019

Herman De Croo is a minister of state. He has been a director since 1981. His successive terms of office have been interrupted by ministerial appointments. He is honorary mayor of Brakel, East Flanders, Belgium. Herman De Croo was president of the House of Representatives for eight years. He is chairman of CRE-AC, the Research and Expertise Center for Central Africa, chairman of the European Transport Safety Council, founder and chairman of the Veteran Cars Museum Autoworld and chairman of the Cardiological Foundation Princess Lilian. He has been a member of the Flemish Parliament since 2014.

Herman De Croo has a law degree from Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He taught at the University of Chicago (Law School), ULB (public law) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) (Common Law and Civil Law). He is the author of a very large number of publications. 167 scientific contributions, including six books – two thick autobiographies – and several hundred parliamentary reports. Herman De Croo is very familiar with the Congo, having visited the country on numerous occasions.