Charles Muchene is set to retire as East African Breweries Limited (EABL) board chairperson after 8 years at the helm of the alcohol beverage company. Muchene also served on the board of directors for a year before being appointed as the chairperson.
His retirement comes on the successful completion of the maximum tenure allowed for an independent director under the Code of Corporate Governance issued by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Dr Martin Oduor-Otieno is currently an independent non-executive director on the EABL Board and will replace Muchene on January 1, 2020.
Charles Muchene
EABL Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Cowan said Mr Muchene made tremendous contribution to the Group.
“Charles has made a huge strategic contribution as a leader in this business and is leaving EABL on a sound footing, having overseen a host of developments across East Africa. His great insights will continue guiding the leadership in shaping the business for the future, in pursuit of its performance ambition: to be the best-performing, most trusted and respected consumer goods company in the Africa,” said Mr Cowan.
Mr Muchene joined the EABL board as an independent non-executive director in February 2011 and has served as chairman since February 2012. He was previously the Country Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
At EABL, Mr Muchene oversaw the expansion of the company’s operations across all the markets in which it operates. The Group has, over the last five years, invested over Kshs 40 billion in capital expenditure in its subsidiaries across East Africa, the most significant of which was the establishment of a Kshs 14 billion brewery in Kisumu and a Kshs 900 million spirits line in Ruaraka, Nairobi.
The KBL Kisumu brewery, whose construction commenced in mid-2017 ahead of elections in Kenya, resulted in an increase of the company’s contracted sorghum farmers to 47,000 in the Kenya and the creation of 100,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.
In Uganda, Mr. Muchene helped guide significant effort and investments to supporting the recovery of bottled beer and these have started paying dividends, with brands such as Guinness, which was the fastest growing beer brand in the Group, in the last financial year. In Tanzania, he oversaw the restructuring and re-financing of Serengeti Breweries leading to a remarkable recovery in both financial performance and market share. Today, the company’s mainstream beer is number one in that market.
East African Breweries Limited (EABL) is a regional leader in beverage alcohol with a collection of brands across beer and spirits. Their business is concentrated on three core markets of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but however, our products are sold in more than 10 countries across Africa and beyond. Their brands include Tusker, Guinness, Bell Lager, Serengeti Lager, Kenya Cane, Chrome Vodka, WhiteCap Lager, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan and Smirnoff.