Movit Products Limited’s Executive Chairman, Simpson Birungi, has made major people reshuffles at the personal and home care products maker, attracting some big-name hard-nosed executives, including from Unilever and Indian FMCG giant, Godrej Consumer Products Limited.
In a telltale sign of Simpson’s vision of the company’s future, Bruce Mpamizo, the company’s long-serving CEO, has been retired, but retained as a consultant and board member.
Movit has appointed, Roni Chacko as the new Chief Executive Officer. He joins the Zana-Bunamwaya-based company from Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Ghana where he has been the Managing Director as well as overseeing the Francophone markets.
Godrej Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, with USD4.1 billion in FY2021/22 revenues. Godrej Consumer Products Limited, the home & personal care subsidiary of the Group, manufactures and distributes, among others, soap, hair colourants, hair extensions, toiletries, and liquid detergents in ninety countries worldwide, raking in some USD 1.6 billion in revenue in 2021/22.
Godrej in 2014 completed a 100% acquisition of Darling Group Holdings- a hair extensions manufacturer with a presence in 14 African Countries including Uganda. In May 2020 Godrej acquired 25% of Canon Chemicals Ltd, a Kenyan manufacturer and distributor of a variety of Home and personal care products at a reported USD14 million. In 2016, Godrej had initially acquired 75% in 2016.
Chacko has more than 20 years of experience in senior executive roles in the FMCG segment, having worked in India, Nigeria and Ghana, before coming to Uganda.
Chacko comes in a few months after Gaurav Causal, another ex-Godrej Chief Executive left a role, after serving briefly, and had to leave at the beginning of this year. It is not clear why he left, but it is believed that he failed to agree with the Executive Chairman on strategy.
In another big move, Stuart Birungi, previously the Head of Operations & Supply-Chain has also been removed and replaced by Kudzaishe Chivige as Group Chief Product Supply Officer. Mr Chivige is a professional engineer who holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Midland State University, Zimbabwe, and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe.
He has more than 15 years of experience in FMCGs and mining industries from various countries across Southern Africa, having worked with Unilever Southern Africa, Nestle, Bindura Nickel, and Rio Tinto. Nestle S.A – the Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate, as a Production Executive and then Manufacturing Manager in Harare Zimbabwe. He then moved to Unilever as a Factory Manager, rising to Supply Chain Manager for Zimbabwe, before being elevated to Manufacturing Excellence Manager for Southern Africa.
“Kudzaishe has experience in the field of lean manufacturing and driving manufacturing excellence, supply chain management, driving safety and quality standards, and strategic sourcing. He is proficient at project management, strategy development, and implementation having worked, most recently with Unilever Southern Africa as an overseer of six plans as Head of Manufacturing and most recently as the Souring Unit Lead,” reads his profile on the Movit website.
Stuart Birungi, the Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt educated son to Movit’s founder, was believed to be their Group’s heir-in-waiting. He has been at the group for 8 years now, playing various roles at the company, including Sourcing Specialist, Projects Manager and Head of Operation Strategy till January 2021, when he was appointed Head of Operations & Supply Chain.
CEO East Africa Magazine however understands that Stuart who also holds an Executive MBA from Strathmore Business School has been retained as a consultant- probably to understudy and learn from the more experienced Kudzaishe.
Another addition to the team is Amit Saxena, who joins the Group as the Head of IT and Analytics, a newly created role within the Group.
Saxena brings a wealth of professional experience spanning 22 years in the field of Information Technology and Security, Digital Transformation and Automation, Advance Analytics, IT strategic planning, as well as people management.
He previously served at the Ramco Group, a Kenyan conglomerate of over 40 companies spread across Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda and deals in Building Materials, Print & Packaging, Manufacturing, Office & IT Distribution, Services & Trading. The Group’s turnover is well over USD 300 million.
Before Ramco, Saxon also worked with Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, rising to become General Manager & Head of I.T Southern & Eastern Africa. He has also worked for the Wilmar Group in Zambia, as well as the JBM Group and Hero Groups in India.
He holds a dual master’s degree in Computer Science – Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Science from Delhi Business, Delhi – India, and a Master’s in Computer Science – M.D. University, Rohtak India. He is certified in project management and Infra management from PMI and ITIL, India.
“He strongly believes in analytics-based decisions and fourth industrial revolution,” reads his profile on the Group website.
Two new Chief Executives for Kenya and Tanzania and a Group CFO
Movit has also hired two new Chief Executives for its Kenya and Tanzania operations, as well as a Group Chief Finance Officer.
Viola Awiti, the Chief Executive for Movit Kenya, is a Route-to-Market and Channels Distribution expert. Her most recent experience includes Channel Category Sales Development Manager for Nestle, East African Cluster, Shopper Marketing Manager, East Africa for GlaxoSmithKline Limited and Business Unit Head at L’Oreal Professional Products Kenya, a role she left in October 2022 to join Movit as Chief Executive Officer, Movit Kenya.
Mary Kibugi who has been appointed Chief Executive for Movit Tanzania most recently worked as the Managing Director of Light Africa Right- a clean energy and solar business that targets the energy-under-served populations in Tanzania, so she understands the Tanzanian market very well. Before that, she worked for Philips, the Dutch Multinational Conglomerate dealing in health, personal care and lighting.
Before Philips, she was the Regional Manager for East and Central Africa at Frigoglass- Frigoglass a refrigeration and glass producer that supplies beverages companies across the continent. The University of Nairobi Graduate who also holds an MBA from Strathmore University, also spent nearly 5 years at Procter & Gamble rising to become the Head of Strategy and Planning.
Movit has also rehired, Steven Mwesigwa as the Group CFO. Steven Mwesigwa was initially the Movit CFO between 2015 and 2019 but left to join the consulting world. Before that, Steven was VP, of Finance at Barclays Bank Uganda (now Absa Bank Uganda) where he headed the business planning and analytics role. Before Absa, he was Manager- Advisory at PriceWaterhouseCoopers Uganda.
Existing talent promoted and reassigned
However, the company has also maintained some of its former executives, elevating them to the Group level.
James Bisase Segawa, a Managing Director of Movit Products since September 2020 has now been reassigned, as the Chief Executive Officer, of New & Emerging Markets.
Mr Segawa is a Certified Chartered Management accountant from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), United Kingdom, with more than 20 years of professional experience in treasury management, accounting and finance, stocks and securities trading, logistical planning, taxation and strategy and commercial sales.
He holds a Master of Business Administration from Lincolnshire and Humberside University in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Barkatullah University, Bhopal, India.
He previously worked with the Northern Rock Bank PLC and Influence London in the United Kingdom. He has also worked with Uganda Batteries Limited and Nice House of Plastics. He has also served on a couple of boards within the FMCG industry in Uganda.
Kitenda Robert Gobii, previously the Head of Marketing, Africa, has been reassigned as Group Chief Category & Innovations Officer, charged with strategic planning and execution of Movit Products’ marketing agenda.
He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration [majoring in marketing] from UNICAF University of Zambia and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication from Makerere University. He also has a professional diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom, and is a certified digital marketer with Google and HubSpot Academy.
Robert is a member of the Uganda Marketers Society and Public Relations Association of Uganda and has held various positions in the fields of marketing, advertising, public relations, and digital marketing strategies. Prior to joining Movit Products, Robert served at the Mulwana Group of companies under its flagship brand, Nice House of Plastics.
The company has also retained Daphne Kakonge as the Group’s Chief Human Capital Officer. Daphne has worked within the East African Region, that is, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi with special assignments in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Before Movit, she previously worked with SAFAL Group, one of Africa’s iron and steel Groups as well as Eskom Holdings SOC Limited, and Pulse East Africa leading the HR, Administration, and Corporate Affairs departments.
She holds, a Master of Business Administration from Arden University (UK), a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from the University of Wales. She is a member of the Human Resource Managers Association of Uganda, the Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda, the Society of Human Resource Management, and A Fellow of the American Academy of Project Management.
She is a Chartered Human Resources professional with more than 15 years of experience in HR Strategic Planning, Performance Management, Compensation and Benefits, Learning and Development, and Organisational Development, among others.
New markets; new gameplay
Simpson (55), previously a cosmetics and beauty products importer and retailer, started Movit Products Limited in 1997, and went into production in 1999. He started off in a makeshift workshop in Zana-Bunamwaya, a Kampala suburb with only four people and some rudimentary machinery. Movit Herbal Baby Jelly, his very first product, became an instant hit, aided by a series of creative radio advertising that dominated the airwaves in the early 2000s. By 2006, the company had gathered enough base to venture into the export markets, starting with Tanzania and subsequently Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan and Zambia. Although Movit is officially present in 8 African markets, its products are in over 30 African markets.
23 years later, Movit is a big brand with more personal care, beauty, hair, and beauty brands. The company’s main brands are Movit, Radiant, Baby Junior, Skin Guard, Pine and Nan. Each of the brands has several product lines. Altogether Movit has some 250 product lines. The company has a fully-fledged modern manufacturing plant, sitting on more than 50 acres of land in Zana-Bunamwaya, on the southern outskirts of Kampala. The company’s team complement has grown from just four people to well over 2,000 people.
According to our sources, the company turnover in 2020 crossed the UGX200 billion mark; specifically, UGX207.8 billion, earning some UGX8.2 billion in net profit. At the end of 2021, although turnover increased to UGX233.7 billion, but net profit grew only marginally to UGX8.7 billion. It is therefore not surprising that the Group has decided to invest in experienced supply chain logistics and analytics experts with significant experience in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa markets, where Movit plays.
Movit’s expansion has also certainly brought the company face to face with some of the world’s giant players such as Unilever, L’Oreal and Godrej. Winning in those markets has necessitated change in the company’s supply chain and route-to-market strategies, as well change in the people strategy, to manage the expansion.
It is believed Simpson has been working on this strategy since he was freed from prison in 2018 on trumped-up charges.
For example, in 2019, the company increased its share capital from UGX1.5 billion to UGX14 billion. In September 2020, SIBI-Four Holdings, which was the holding company renamed to Movit Group of Companies. A number of subsidiaries have been created, all which feed into Group operations. A good example is, Sim Plastics manufactures all the packaging material used for Movit Products.
Simpson is by all means a genius entrepreneur- but even genius must be fused with experience and market knowledge. As Movit expands further away from its homebase, it inevitably must take on the big players in those markets. Recruiting executives with experience in those markets and working for bigger players seems just the right thing to do.