EABL finance director Gyorgy Geiszl exits after five years

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) group finance director and head of strategy Gyorgy Geiszl is set to leave the brewer in June after the parent company, Diageo, recalled him for senior role.

His exit will bring to an end five-year stay at EABL, having joined in October 2015 to take the place of the then finance director Tracey Barnes.

EABL group managing director Andrew Cowan said Mr Geiszl will be running the Diageo Global shared services, reporting directly to Diageo chief finance officer Kathryn Mikells.

“It is a massive accolade for him personally but also in terms of reflective glory for EABL. He has been able to grow as a leader and become an extremely valuable asset for Diageo,” said Mr Cowan in an interview with Business Daily.

Mr Geiszl will be replaced by Risper Genga Ohaga, a Kenyan, who has been the chief finance officer at Barclays Bank Zambia Plc.

Ms Ohaga was unveiled on Friday during the release of half year results to December 2019 in which net profits grew nine percent to Sh7.2 billion. The growth was lifted by strong performance across all segments in the region.

The outgoing finance director was hailed by Mr Cowan as having been a key architect in EABL’s double digit growth over the years.

The incoming finance director is a seasoned finance professional with Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Nairobi.

Ms Ohaga served as a senior manager at KPMG for nine years before Barclays where she has served in various capacities for about 12 years.

Among the countries she has served include South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Egypt, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius, and Seychelles.

“We are excited to extract Risper from the clutches of Barclays. It is amazing to secure somebody who has worked in so many countries in Africa and has fantastic résumé of audit roles,” said Mr Cowan.