EABL chief finance officer Ohaga to exit after six years

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) chief financial officer Risper Ohaga will leave her position at the end of June, ending a six-year tenure during which she played a central role in strengthening the brewer’s financial position and governance.

The exit comes ahead of EABL’s parent company Diageo selling its 65 percent stake to Japan’s Asahi Group, which will control the beer maker going forward.

In a staff announcement on Tuesday, EABL Group Chief Executive Officer Jane Karuku and Group Human Resources Director Jackie Chimhanzi said Ms Ohaga will leave the company to pursue interests in line with her career aspirations.

She will remain in office until June 30, to allow for an orderly transition, with her successor to be announced later.

Ms Ohaga joined EABL in February 2020 from Absa Group, then known as Barclays, where she had worked for more than a decade in senior finance and audit roles across Africa.

Her appointment coincided with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a period that placed unprecedented strain on corporate balance sheets and funding.

“She has led in delivering the 2021 and 2025 medium-term notes, saving the business significant amounts in interest costs, demonstrating her financial acuity and bold decision-making,” the company said in a statement.

The statement added that Ms Ohaga also placed strong emphasis on talent development, with members of the EABL finance team winning Diageo global finance awards a record three times in the past four years.

At EABL, she is credited with optimising the company’s balance sheet and securing funding to fully support its strategy while tightly managing costs. She led the issuance of the brewer’s 2021 and 2025 medium-term notes, transactions that the company says delivered significant savings in interest costs and strengthened its funding profile.

Under her leadership, EABL said, the company reinforced its financial controls and governance structures, enhanced investor relations, and delivered strong results in a challenging operating environment.

“A number of Finance staff have taken up international assignments both globally and within EABL, with secondments to senior roles in Japan, Ghana, India, Ireland, and Singapore, among others. She believes in nurturing and developing talent as evidenced by the number of finance staff promoted and/or taking on new challenges under her leadership.”

Before joining EABL, Ms Ohaga served as Chief Financial Officer for Absa’s Zambian unit between November 2015 and February 2020. She previously held the role of Managing Director for Barclays Internal Audit, Africa Retail and Business Banking, where she was accountable for audit delivery across 13 African countries.

Earlier, she was Director, Africa, at Barclays Internal Audit, overseeing retail and business banking audits in 12 countries, including Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, and Egypt. Her career at Barclays began as Regional Director for Internal Audit for East and West Africa.

Ms Ohaga earlier worked at KPMG, where she spent more than nine years as a senior manager between 1999 and 2008.

→ [email protected]