Q&A WITH IVAN MENEZES, DIAGEO GLOBAL PLC. CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Ivan Menezes, the chief executive Diageo Global Plc.

The chief executive of Diageo Plc was in Nairobi recently to visit its brewing business in East Africa and assess new trends. He spoke to Jaindi Kisero.

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There’s a perception that Diageo’s operations in the region are top-heavy with expatriates. What are your views on development of local talent?

These perceptions misrepresent the reality. We are a local company here. But we are also a global business with a workforce of 360,000 spread around 180 countries. Developing local talent is a top priority for Diageo Plc.

Currently, we have 20 Kenyans working in senior management positions outside this country. The policy of this business is to have senior leadership that reflects the markets where we operate.

But the perceptions persist.

Those perceptions are not supported by facts and statistics. Currently, 70 per cent of the senior management of our business on the African continent is African. This number has progressed from 40 per cent since about 10 years ago.

We look at Africa as a great feeder of talent to our global business. That is what we believe and practise as a group. I am a strong believer in moving our senior leadership to work in different environments. International experience is invaluable.

Your business in this region is more or less mature. The formal market for alcoholic beverages does not appear to present major opportunities for growth.

We remain very optimistic about the growth of our business in this region. This is reflected in the capex spend we have committed here. For your information, we have just spent Ksh1 billion ($10.8 million) in capex on our business here.

What is the basis of your optimism?

When you look at the demography, urbanisation trends, the number of young people entering legal drinking age and GDP growth trends, you see sustainable growth opportunities for our business in the region. With the improvements we are seeing in terms of better infrastructure and ease of doing business, we see tremendous opportunities.

The business here appears focused on selling non-core assets.

The sale of the glass company (Central Glass Industries) was a strategic decision. Glass making requires different skills and capabilities. It made strategic sense for us to offload the glass making company. I see this market experiencing double-digit growth in the medium term.

Our focus will be on new innovations to develop and support trading in our products. We will deliver better experience and better value at every stage of the value chain. During my stay, I visited several retail outlets, where some of our brands are sold. Innovative ways of partnering with retail outlets remains a top priority for us.

Excise duties and relations with the governments?

I firmly believe in constructive engagement with the government. How to share the pie between the farmer, who grows barley, distributors and retailers, and the government’s revenue needs. It must be a win-win situation for both the government and the business.

Are you considering consolidation of the business in the region?

We have a strong footprint in the region, which gives us sufficient scale to grow organically. We will be looking at acquisition opportunities when they come.

The East African