EABL taps Mark Ocitti Ongom to head Kenya Breweries Limited as Managing Director

Mark Ocitti Ongom, has been appointed, the Managing Director of Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) effective 1st March 2023.

KBL is the largest of East African Breweries Limited (EABL) operations, accounting for 64% of the EABL business followed by Uganda which accounts for 20% and Tanzania, 16%.

Mark is replacing John Musunga, who left KBL in October 2022 to join Guinness Nigeria, a Diageo subsidiary West Africa. John Musunga replaced Baker Magunda, another Ugandan, who retired from the group.

Mark has been the Managing Director of Serengeti Breweries Ltd in Tanzania, where he will be replaced by one Dr. Obinna Anyalebechi, who has been the Field Sales & Operations Director at Diageo in London.

A statement released yesterday by KBL said, that mark has “overseen unprecedented growth, investment and launch of innovations” at Serengeti Breweries. 

Mark joined EABL in August 2014 as Managing Director for EABL International (EABLi), after a series of leadership roles in Shell and Airtel in Uganda and in Zambia. At EABLi, he is credited for leading the growth of the export business in Rwanda, Burundi, East Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.

He then returned to Uganda as the Managing Director of Uganda Breweries Limited in 2016 from where he was in July 2019 appointed the Managing Director of Serengeti Breweries.  

Mark has an Honours degree in Statistics from Makerere University and an MBA from Herriot Watt University in Scotland. He also holds an Executive MBA from London Business School.  

On his LinkedIn page, Mark describes himself as a “self-driven, self-motivated individual with a strong focus on people and a proven track record of delivering consistent growth and solid market-leading positions across African emerging markets in multiple sectors, most recently in fast-moving consumer goods and telecoms”. He also says, he has a “passion for cultivating brands for present and future generations”. 

“A believer in investing time and education in people to help them deliver their full potential and thereby construct winning teams and work cultures,” he adds. 

Mark is the first Ugandan to head Kenya Breweries Limited. 

In a recent interview with Japheth Katto, the Uganda Breweries Limited Board Chairman, amongst the East African countries, Uganda has the largest number of expatriates working in Diageo companies in the UK, Kenya, Nigeria, Hungary, Japan and more.