Executive ProfilesThe Big Story

Innovation in Every Drop: How Plascon Became the Region’s Paint Powerhouse Under Santosh Gumte Six years after taking the helm at Kansai Plascon Uganda, Managing Director Santosh Gumte has transformed the company into one of East and Central Africa’s most trusted paint brands. In this exclusive interview with CEO East Africa Magazine’s Paul Murungi, Gumte reflects on steering Plascon through the shock of COVID-19, strengthening culture and performance, championing innovation, fighting counterfeits, and unlocking regional growth.  He also reveals why empowering teams, safeguarding the environment, uplifting communities, and balancing profit with purpose are central to building a resilient and respected African paint brand.

You took over as Managing Director in 2019, just before the global disruption of COVID-19. What were your immediate priorities stepping into the role, and how did you steer Kansai Plascon through those uncertain times? Our priority when COVID-19 cases were recorded in Uganda and SOPs were issued was to protect our staff, because they are the drivers of the Plascon engine.  We implemented strict health and safety measures across all our operations. We also ensured job security by paying full salaries to all staff throughout the lockdown period to maintain morale. The next priority was to keep operations running…

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About the Author

Paul Murungi is a Ugandan Business Journalist with extensive financial journalism training from institutions in South Africa, London (UK), Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda. His coverage focuses on groundbreaking stories across the East African region with a focus on ICT, Energy, Oil and Gas, Mining, Companies, Capital and Financial markets, and the General Economy.

His body of work has contributed to policy change in private and public companies.

Paul has so far won five continental awards at the Sanlam Group Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism in Johannesburg, South Africa, and several Uganda national journalism awards for his articles on business and technology at the ACME Awards.

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