Since assuming leadership of Trafigura in January 2025, Richard Holtum has taken his time to set up a new structure for the Swiss commodities trader's operations in Africa, where it has been active for more than three decades. Now aged 40, the former British Army officer studied international relations at the University of St Andrews in Scotland before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He has no prior experience in Africa.
Holtum began his career at Glencore, which recruited him as a
