GHANA – Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, subsidiary of Diageo Plc has announced the appointment of Ms. Hélène Elizabeth Antoinette Weesie as the new Managing Director of the company and an Executive Director on the Board.
She replaces Gavin Pike who has now been appointed as Managing Director of Diageo South Africa.
Helene joins Guinness Ghana with a wealth of international experience with her knowledge and expertise cut across sales, marketing and general management; having held a number of roles both within Diageo and outside with peer companies in our sector.
Until recently, Helene was the Managing Director of Diageo’s Central Europe Cluster of countries and prior to that she led Serengeti Breweries, Diageo’s Tanzanian brewer.
The Board Chairman of Guinness Ghana Dr. Felix Addo said, “We are delighted to welcome Helene to our big Guinness Ghana family. I have no doubt that she will steer us onto greater success, after Gavin brought the business onto a paradigm of sustainable growth and profitability.”
Previous employment in commercial roles included time with both Unilever and Heineken across Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Her early career was spent in Unilever Marketing roles. She moved on to spend 21 years in a wide variety of roles at Heineken encompassing Marketing, Sales and General Management across Europe, Latin America and Africa.
This included 4 years as the Commercial Director for Africa and the Middle East where she first got to know Diageo closely through her involvement with Brandhouse in South Africa.
Hélène’s final role in Heineken was as the General Manager of the Panama business where she drove significant transformation, growing the business and gaining market shares.
“We are delighted to welcome Helene to our big Guinness Ghana family. I have no doubt that she will steer us onto greater success, after Gavin brought the business onto a paradigm of sustainable growth and profitability.”
The Board Chairman of Guinness Ghana – Dr. Felix Addo
She holds a master’s degree in Marketing & Sociology from University of Wageningen, Netherlands, an Advanced Management Program from London Business School.
Meanwhile, Guinness Ghana has initiated a partnership deal with the Health Promotions Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to ensure the safety of its customers and the general public following the re-opening of open-air bars and some tourist sites in the country.
Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah, Corporate Relations Director indicated that the manufacturer and marker of a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in the country, is a responsible corporate organisation and has a 60-year history of partnering its customers for growth.
“We believe our contribution to the cause of fighting Covid-19 forms part of our mandate. As a partner for growth, we remain committed to not only reinforce the message on safety in the bars but also empower and support bar owners.”
Sylvia added that the beverage company will soon be unveiling a nationwide campaign to support its stakeholders and bar owners get back on their feet and mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses.
“We are also injecting additional funding into the ongoing “Y3n NyinMbom” initiative to support their recovery, profitability and growth to help them rise up while keeping consumers safe,” she said.
The management of Guinness Ghana presented some Covid-19 educational posters, hand washing stations (Veronica buckets) to augment the on-the-ground education as well some Guinness Ghana products to refresh the directorate’s front-line staff.
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