EABL’s Mahinda moves to head Diageo southern Africa
East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) group CEO Gerald Mahinda. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
Former managing director of Guinness Ghana Breweries, Mr Seni Adetu, will take over leadership at EABL.
The changes take effect on July 1.
East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) CEO Gerald Mahinda has been picked to head Diageo’s operations in southern Africa, the beverages maker announced on Friday.
Mr Mahinda moves to South Africa as managing director of the 900-employee beverages vendor BrandHouse, a four-year-old three-way joint venture between Diageo, Heineken and Namibia Breweries Ltd. Mr Mahinda will also manage all of Diageo’s other interests in the southern Africa region including Reunion.
A statement released in Nairobi said the former managing director of Guinness Ghana Breweries, Mr Seni Adetu, will take over leadership at EABL. The changes take effect on July 1.
Both the Kenyan and Ghanaian outfits are majority owned by Diageo Plc, the largest transnational beer, wine and spirits manufacturer in the world.
BrandHouse was formed after the two firms took 29 per cent of the Namibia outfit in July 2003. Its brands include Guiness, Windhoek and Heineken.
Successful
“Mr Mahinda will be leaving the services of the company he has very successfully led over the last nine to 10 years effective July 1, 2009,” said EABL in a statement.
He joined EABL as the group finance and strategy director in 1999, a position he held until 2003. Mr Mahinda was appointed CEO in 2004 after a short stint as strategy and change director at Guinness Nigeria plc, one of the most important Diageo markets in the world.
The firm noted that EABL had achieved double-digit growth and its market capitalisation at the Nairobi Stock Exchange surged from $1 billion to over $2.5 billion in 2008 during his watch.
He, however, leaves the company at a time growth has decelerated considerably following a slump of the Kenyan economy from early last year. The firm’s pre-tax profit rose 4.8 per cent in the first half of the current year. It retrenched staff earlier in the year.
Senator brand, said to be the fastest growing lager in the Diageo stable and Alvaro, the non-alcoholic drink that took the Kenya market by storm, were launched during his tenure.
Mr Adetu joined Diageo three years ago from Coca Cola.
