“Running along the Casablanca corniche, covering ever more kilometres, ever faster, is a real pleasure!”
“If I did not hold my current position, I would probably be an explorer. We have so many things to discover that can have a positive impact on the people around us and build a better future.”
A career in search of challenge…
Marcel Cobuz is one of those people who nurture a certain curiosity about life and what it brings us. After studying economics and business law in Bucharest, followed by management training at INSEAD (the European Institute of Business Administration) in Paris and Singapore, and then at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, he began his career in investment banking. An experience that enabled him to set up the first Bucharest Stock Exchange before joining the building materials sector, where he has worked for 17 years. “I have been fortunate to work in Europe, Asia and the Africa and Middle East region in a variety of management roles such as country management, finance or marketing. In all my roles, I have always sought to put innovation at the heart of what I undertake.” Constantly seeking new challenges… Marcel Cobuz also applies this outside work, through regular running along the Casablanca coastline. “Running along the Casablanca corniche, covering ever more kilometres, ever faster, is a real pleasure!”
The Moroccan experience
For more than a year and a half, he has headed LafargeHolcim Morocco, a benchmark player and national leader in the building materials sector. “Morocco is a fast-growing country with rapid urbanisation, the development of transport infrastructure and strategic partnerships with other African countries. Our company has an important role to play in this context. With committed, dynamic and competent teams, LafargeHolcim Morocco is taking part in building the Morocco of tomorrow and aims to position itself as a centre of industrial expertise for the rest of Africa”, he explains. He adds: “It is a real pleasure for me to be able to support my teams in achieving fine and noble things, by launching innovative products that meet societal challenges such as energy efficiency, by developing our retail offering or by creating sustainable waste treatment models with a view to preserving our environment and natural resources.”
An encounter? Bertrand Piccard.
“At COP22 in Marrakech, I had the opportunity to spend some time with Bertrand Piccard, a brilliant entrepreneur and adventurer, known among other things for having co-developed and co-piloted the Solar Impulse solar aircraft on a round-the-world flight. He is so passionate in his relentless pursuit of new technologies and innovation that he cannot fail to inspire us to work differently, to create value for all and for our planet, and to build lasting partnerships. (…) This exchange strengthened my determination to give greater impetus to innovation in building materials, wind energy and waste treatment…”
“I have a multinational family…”
Outside the professional sphere, Marcel Cobuz is a passionate and committed man. “I love travelling with my family and discovering new places that allow me to have wonderful human and artistic encounters. I have a multinational family, since my wife and my four children were all born in four different countries.” Marcel Cobuz is also active in the voluntary sector, particularly in education. “I am a member of my children’s school board in Casablanca and, with a few fellow business leaders in Morocco, we are working on projects to build new schools for children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Casablanca.”
Finally, when we ask Marcel Cobuz for the three words that could sum up his role, he answers without hesitation: People, Value and the Planet. “I believe that as a business leader, I have a duty to care about people and to create shared value, whether for employees, customers or stakeholders, and to seek to preserve the planet by reducing my company’s carbon footprint.”
If you were…
A colour… ?
Horizon blue.
A country… ?
A good part of my roots come from the region of Transylvania in Romania, full of history and brimming with opportunities for exploration.
An animal…?
The racehorse.
A dish…?
Fish tagine, so full of flavour.
A film…?
Apollo 13 by Ron Howard.
A song…?
The Windmills of Your Mind by Noel Harrison.