SOUTH AFRICA – South African food manufacturer, Tiger Brands, has welcomed back Polycarp Igathe and Zayd Abrahams to its team.
The consumer goods company has named Polycarp Igathe as its new Chief Growth Officer for the rest of Africa.
Igathe, who will officially take the position effective 1 December 2022, served as Tiger Brand’s Managing Director of its East Africa business prior to his departure to join British petroleum company, Vivo Energy.
He brings to Tiger Brands strong commercial capability, as well as marketing, sales, strategy and business leadership experience through multi-geography leadership roles across Africa.
He has occupied roles at leading companies including Coca-Cola, Kenya Breweries, Haco Industries Limited and Equity Bank.
He also held the position of Deputy Governor of Nairobi and was an aspirant for the County’s Gubernatorial position in the just concluded general elections in Kenya.
“I look forward to the diverse set of capabilities and knowledge of the continent that Polycarp will bring to driving the execution of our ambitious growth strategy for the Rest of Africa business and his broader contribution to the development and execution of the Tiger Brands business strategy,” said Tiger Brands CEO, Noel Doyle.
Igathe was appointed alongside Zayd Abrahams, who takes position of Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer effective January 1, 2023.
Abrahams joins the business from FNB where he currently leads the Personal Banking and Private Banking segments’ marketing function.
Abrahams has extensive experience in the fast-moving consumer goods sector and brings to Tiger Brands broad commercial, marketing, strategy and business leadership experience.
He has previously worked for Tiger Brands, Unilever, L’Oréal, Coca-Cola and MTN Group, in global, local, and regional roles across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the UK and Turkey.
“Zayd has a proven track record for delivering results, driving business, brand and category growth, developing strategy from insights to execution and getting teams behind implementation through collaboration with others and purpose-driven leadership.
“Zayd will help energise and grow our portfolio of iconic brands and use his extensive experience towards the development and execution of the Tiger Brands group-wide business strategy,” says Doyle.
Both Igathe and Abrahams have come back to Tiger Brands at a time the company is undergoing a transformational change in terms of its operations in a bid to attain growth.
Last year, the company launched a Venture Capital Fund seeking investments in consumer brands that align with current consumer trends such as Health and Nutrition, Plant Based foods, Convenience and Snackification.
Further to that, the group seeks to offload its deciduous fruit business Langeberg & Ashton Foods (L&AF).
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