Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL), one of two of Uganda’s largest alcoholic drinks companies, has made key changes in its senior executive team, CEO East Africa Magazine can exclusively reveal.
In the Friday, 23rd October 2020 changes announced to UBL staff by Alvin Mbugua, the company’s Managing Director, Emmy Hashakimana, previously the Head of Beer, has been appointed to take on the role of Marketing & Innovations Director. He replaces the amiable Juliana Kagwa, who has been appointed to the Corporate Relations Director role.
Changes take effect, 1st November 2020.
The corporate relations role has been previously bundled with legal and was headed by Charity Kiyemba Ekudu as the Legal and Corporate Relations Director. That role has now been unbundled to create two standalone roles – Corporate Relations Director as well as a Legal Director & Company Secretary role.
CEO East Africa Magazine understands that Charity now heads to fuel giants, Total Uganda to head their Legal and Corporate Affairs department.
Agnes Ssali, who has previously been the Marketing, Potentially Reduced-Risk Products (PRRP) and Regulations Counsel for the East African Markets (EAM) Cluster at British American Tobacco, has been appointed to take up the vacant Legal Director & Company Secretary position.
In yet another changeEunice Waweru, previously with Guinness Nigeria Plc (GN) as Head of Commercial Finance, has been appointed to the role of Finance & Strategy Director to replace Busola Doregos who was recently appointed as the Group Head of Finance & Strategy, EABL.
“Yes, we have reset the EXCO to be aligned with our growth ambitions. I am genuinely excited with the new team and individuals who have come in,” Alvin Mbugua told this reporter in a phone interview.
The new appointments expand UBL’s Exco to eight members– four men and four women, keeping UBL as one of the companies in Uganda with a fair share of women on their exco. Previously, the UBL exco had seven members –four women and three men.
Juliana Kagwa: dependable, resilient, and positive
Announcing Juliana’s appointment, Mr. Mbugua said, she “brings a wealth of experience, having held various leadership roles in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) ranging from marketing, strategy, commercial and innovation.”
“During her career, Juliana has become renown for her resilience, dependability and positive approach to life and work. She has built a reputation for herself in growing both her portfolio of brands and her team members in tandem,” Mbugua further said.
During her tenure, she built a reputation for herself in growing both the brand portfolio and her team members in tandem and in the process making UBL the highest net exporter of talent within the Diageo Group in Africa.
In the 4 years of her stewardship, UBL curved out significant share in the premium alcohol brands, notably, a double-digit growth annually for Tusker Lite, Guinness and the Reserve Scotch brands. In the same period, the portfolio registered an all-time high share of voice in the marketplace alongside efficiencies created through her consolidation of media spend.
Mbugua further described her as thus: “Over the last 4 years, as Marketing & Innovations Director, Juliana has been responsible for ensuring the profitable and sustainable growth of the focus brands in the UBL portfolio. She has also proven that she is passionate about consumers and customers, committed to investing in talent and drives for excellence in execution. She brings her infectious energy, strong network, and extensive knowledge of the marketplace to the Corporate Relations role to enable us to shape the future of the alcohol beverage industry in Uganda. Through a citizen-led sustainability agenda Juliana is poised to secure an optimal operating environment for Diageo in Uganda.”
Irene Mwoyogwona: Beyond the Numbers – How Pride Bank's Award-Winning CFO Combines Profitability and Social ImpactShe started her career at Diageo as a Graduate management trainee and has worked in various marketing roles in Uganda and Kenya, including a brief stint as Country Manager for Heineken. She holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University and a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology from Makerere University.
Emmy Hashakimana: A collaborative leader with a passion for people and brands
Emmy joined Diageo 9 years ago as Head of Customer Marketing and has held different roles in the business , including a 4.5-year stint in London at the Diageo Headquarters as Head of Innovation Commercialisation- Diageo Africa. This allowed him to build deep relationships in each of the African markets that enabled successful launches across the Orijin trademark, Azmera Bira, Guinness Gold, Baileys Delight, Gordons Moringa, Black & White and Smirnoff RTD Flavours in Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Cameroon, South Africa and Kenya.
“Over the last 10 months Emmy has led the Beer Portfolio in Uganda where he led and delivered the record breaking Guinness Smooth launch, and facilitated the COVID-19 response planning and execution; putting in place Direct Home delivery and new partnerships with the leading e-commerce players,” Mbugua said of Emmy.
He further described him as a “collaborative leader who is passionate about growing brands and people with a strong sense of the Diageo values and ability to make an impact.”
“Emmy is passionate about creating belief to unlock potential and believes in boundaryless team working,” Mbugua further said of Emmy.
Before Diageo, Emmy spent 6 years with Unilever East & Southern Africa where he rose to the Regional Sales Manager level for Rwanda and Burundi. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Accounting and Business Management) from Makerere University as well as an MBA from the University of Liverpool.
Eunice Waweru: Passionate, foresighted, with great breadth in finance and strategy
Mbugua, said that whilst with Guinness Nigeria, Eunice was core to building the company’s “long-term strategy, collaborating the MISSION workstreams, driving an optimal cash position, reframing MSS growth levers to beat plan and step-changing the controls environment.”
“Her biggest asset remains in being a great business partner to the Sales and Marketing teams,” Mbugua said adding: “Eunice is not new to East Africa and has flourished in other roles within EABL as Group Finance Controller and EABLi Finance Director and therefore brings with her passion, foresight and great breadth in Finance and Strategy but more importantly a willingness to champion new barriers and create break-through outcomes.”
Agnes Ssali: Rich corporate governance and commercial law experience
Agnes Ssali joins the UBL team from British American Tobacco Area where she has been serving as Marketing, PRRP and Regulations Counsel for the East African Markets (EAM) Cluster, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to this, Agnes served as Legal Counsel for British American Tobacco Uganda and before then, as an Associate with Sebalu & Lule Advocates.
Agnes comes with a wealth of experience in the areas of corporate governance, commercial law, land transactions, intellectual property management, regulatory review, litigation, labour and retirement benefits.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree (Honors) from Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre. She is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) UK and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School, Herriot Watt University, UK. She is an advocate of the High of Court of Uganda and a member of the Uganda Law Society and East African Law Society.
