Belgacom lines up two new directors

Belgian telco Belgacom is set to appoint two female independent directors at its annual general meeting next month.

The board has proposed that Belgacom appoint former Vivendi Publishing chairman and CEO Agnès Touraine, who is currently working as chief executive of management consulting firm Act III Consultants.

The second proposed director is Catherine Vandenborre, the chief financial officer of Belgian electricity system operator Elia.

If approved at the AGM, Touraine and Vandenborre will replace Pierre-Alain De Smedt and Oren G. Shaffer, who are due to step down from Belgacom after 10 years. The move would also establish a 50-50 male-female split on the Belgacom board of directors.

“We recently appointed a woman CEO, Dominique Leroy, even though this was not imposed by a quota. We now wish to appoint as directors two highly qualified, principled women with relevant experience,” said Belgacom board chairman Stefaan De Clerck.

“With the proposal to appoint Agnès Touraine and Catherine Vandenborre, we show that the Board of Directors of Belgacom wants to go further than the gender diversity standard as regards reserving one-third of mandates on boards of directors for women. With 50% we go one better, and we do this because we believe that social diversity should be reflected in all echelons of the company.”