Lionel van der Walt steps down from PayCargo to focus on family

Lionel van der Walt, the well-liked global chief commercial officer of PayCargo, has stepped down from his role to focus on his daughter’s health.

Noting that she is due to have brain surgery next month, he wrote on LinkedIn: “With this in mind I have made a decision to step down from my current role at PayCargo in order to focus 100% on her, as we start preparing for the procedure and in order to take care of her post surgery.

“I would like to thank Eduardo and the PayCargo board for all their support and understanding with this change. It was not an easy decision for me and my family, but as I am sure you will understand, circumstances beyond our control have necessitated this unexpected step.”

He added that he will continue to be “PayCargo’s biggest cheerleader” and that the company could continue to count on him.

Mr van der Walt has been instrumental, as the face of PayCargo, in growing the brand. Last week he also joined the advisory board of Nexshore, another company he has championed, which powers IATA’s OneRecord data-sharing platform for air cargo.

“We are very excited to have Lionel join us in an advising capacity. We are impressed with his business acumen and worldwide logistics expertise,” said CEO Pramod Rao. “His talents, experience, and network will be invaluable.”

Mr van der Walt’s standing in the industry was underlined by the number of messages from across air cargo wishing him well.