After leading a +33% bounce back from Covid-19, UBL’s Alvin Mbugua moves to head Diageo’s largest beer business in Latin America and Caribbean

Following a short but impressive two years as Managing Director at Uganda Breweries Alvin Mbugua has been appointed as the General Manager of Diageo Caribbean & Central America (CCA) effective 1st September 2021.

CCA, is the largest beer business in the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region. 

Alvin became the Managing Director of UBL in July 2019 and hit it off well, leading a +10% growth in net sales in the first 6 months of the year (UBL’s financial year starts in July). Repeated countrywide lockdowns due to Covid-19 however hit the second half causing a -21% decline in net sales in the second half of the year, leading to an overall -5% decline for the full year.

However, even amidst the lockdowns Alvin was able to oversee key growth in certain core lines of the business. For example, there was a +5% growth in premium brands; +15% growth in premium spirits; +24% in Pilsner and +37% growth in Black & White, a whisky introduced to the Ugandan market in 2018. 

However, in the subsequent year (F21) he saw to a solid double-digit bounce-back— an impressive +33%, underlined by +46% growth in mainstream beer (Bell Lager and Pilsner); +34% in premium beer (Tusker Lite and Guinness); +21% growth in value beer and +24% growth in spirits.  

In his two years at UBL, he grew UBL’s contribution to the EABL Group’s net volume sales from 15% that he inherited to 19% in FY21.

“He has been successful in growing significant market share, creating a new leadership team, supercharging Guinness sales, and bringing new purpose, growing production capacity and driving mainstream spirits growth. All this has been achieved against the backdrop of an unpredictable environment and restrictions on the alcoholic beverage business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said a statement released by the company.

Eight star-studded years at EABL

Alvin joined East African Breweries Limited (EABL) in May of 2013, from logistics firm, Damco, as Group Financial Controller. In his role as EABL’s Financial Controller, Alvin was able to drive a culture of accountability and ownership, helping to drive top-line growth of 9% year on year.

From that role, he was then appointed as Finance and Strategy Director for UBL in October of 2015, where he played a huge role in the creation of the UBL strategy that generated double-digit growth. At the start of 2018, he moved again within EABL into a commercial position to lead the Nairobi Sales team for Kenya Breweries Limited, where he deepened the strategic distributor performance and relationships.

He then returned to Uganda in 2019 as Managing Director of UBL.

Before joining EABL, Alvin worked in several finance roles across many markets in Africa for such companies as Maersk Logistics and Shell in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa.

Alvin’s replacement will be announced in due course, according to the company statement.

Mbugua holds a Master of Commerce (Development Finance) in International Finance for Development from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor of Science in geospatial Engineering from the University of Nairobi.

He is a member of the ACCA and was in 2017 selected as Uganda’s CFO of the Year, in a competition organised by the ACCA Uganda and Deloitte.