East African Breweries PLC (EABL) is set to welcome one of the region’s most seasoned finance executives to its top financial seat. Justin Mollel has been named Group Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director Designate of EABL, stepping into a role that sits at the heart of one of Africa’s most iconic consumer goods businesses.
The appointment signals the board’s confidence in homegrown talent with deep continental roots — and draws a clear line of succession from an outgoing CFO who is herself heading to the corner office elsewhere.
Mollel’s career reads as a masterclass in progressive financial leadership built across some of the Diageo group’s most dynamic African markets. He cut his teeth at Serengeti Breweries Limited in Tanzania, where he rose through a series of increasingly senior finance roles — from Financial Controller to Commercial Finance Manager, and ultimately to Finance Director — accumulating nearly four years at the helm of the business’s financial function.
That tenure gave him command of the full spectrum of brewery finance operations, from commercial performance management to balance sheet stewardship, in one of East Africa’s competitive beer markets.
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He subsequently crossed the continent to take on the Finance and Strategy Director role at Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC, where he spent over two years navigating a complex macroeconomic environment while helping to shape the company’s strategic direction. Most recently, Mollel has served as Finance Director at Diageo Ireland, deepening his exposure to global finance operations and broadening his perspective beyond African markets.
The outgoing CFO, Risper Genga Ohaga — who departs EABL to become Group Chief Executive Officer of APA Apollo Group — to took to her LinkedIn page to offer a warm and pointed endorsement of her successor. “It is my absolute pleasure to be passing on the baton to one of East Africa’s and indeed Africa’s finest leaders,” she said, describing Mollel as a leader of high integrity, strong values, and a passion for people, and expressing confidence that he is “the right person to lead finance into the future.” For EABL, it is a considered handover — and one that sets the tone for the next chapter.
