By Silvia Nyambura
He is the new face of Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL), a subsidiary of the East African Breweries Limited (EABL), the makers of Bell, Guinness, Tusker Beer and an assortment of spirits. And as observers continue to question lack of placement of non-Ugandans in top positions at the company, Nyimpini Mabunda brings with him a wealth of experience that will not only turn around UBL’s performance, but trigger competition and innovations in the beer industry.
With 20 years business experience in multinational Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses, 11 of which have been spent at Diageo (the parent company of EABL), Nyimpini is a self confessed patriotic African who believes in the vast talent and ability of Africans to run successful multi-national corporations in the continent.
Walking into his office for the interview, he leaves me surprised as he vividly remembers me from a recent UBL event I attended. I would say he’s one of the most social executives I have met so far. His office is simple with a desk top computer on one side of his table and what seems like a conference table in the middle with a window overlooking the company’s loading yard, presumably to ensure he sees all the activity happening there.
Growing up
Born on 4th November as the third in a family of six children, Nyimpini is rumoured to be below 40 years of age, a claim he declines to confirm. He grew up in Rolle Village in the Mpumalanga region of South Africa, a community setting he describes as ‘the kind where one hand washes the other.’
“My father was an entrepreneur running a retail outlet that dealt in hardware, beer, maize and non-alcoholic beverages and my mother was a teacher. People have described me as energetic, passionate and very driven which I attribute to the fact that my parents encouraged me from a very young age to be visionary and clear about what I want and go all the way for it without letting circumstances hold me back. For this reason I have always known that I wanted to become a leader from a young age,