Our Team

Alvin joined Diageo in 2013 as the EABL Group Financial Controller and has since held senior roles in Finance as Finance & Strategy Director, UBL and Sales as Head of Sales, KBL prior to his current role as Managing Director of Uganda Breweries. Prior to joining Diageo, Alvin held the roles of Chief Financial Officer for East and Horn of Africa at Damco and Chief Financial Officer for Shell Tanzania.

Alvin has broad experience in Change Management, Organization Transformation, Corporate Governance, Risk Management, Operational Analysis, Financial Reporting, Strategic Planning, Systems Consulting and Organizational Leadership.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geospatial Engineering from the University of Nairobi and a Masters in International Finance for Development from University of Cape Town.

Andrew Cowan Appointed Group Managing Director in July 2016. Mr. Cowan is an established business leader, with a wide range of commercial and strategic management experience spanning over 20 years in the Fast Moving Consumer goods sector. Prior to this appointment, he led Diageo Great Britain (GB).

Mr. Cowan’s experience straddles corporate leadership, strategy development, operational management as well as sales and marketing. Andrew joined Diageo in 2008 as Commercial Director for Northern Ireland and was appointed to the role of Commercial Director in the Republic of Ireland a year later. He returned to GB in 2011 and has led the Diageo GB business since then.

Mr Japheth Katto was appointed to the Board in February 2014. He is a consultant in corporate governance and financial services regulation.

He was the CEO of Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority from inception in 1998 until 2013. He has a wealth of experience in both the private and public sector where he has held various accounting, auditing and financial services regulation roles in East Africa and the UK.

Mr Katto is the Board Chairman of Stanbic Bank Uganda, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Uganda and a member of the Global Council of the UK based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Makerere University and is a Fellow of ACCA and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda.

Mr. Jimmy Mugerwa was appointed to the Board in July 2018. He has a distinguished 25-year career in the oil and gas industry and is currently the Managing Director, Tullow Uganda Operations. Mr. Mugerwa is also the Chairman of the DFCU Bank Board and serves in various leadership roles on several Boards, including non-profit organisations.

Prior to joining Tullow, he served in various positions at Shell including the Senior Regional Advisor for Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya Country Chair and GM, Shell East Africa. He brings to EABL a proven track record in diverse industries across the region.

Mr. Mugerwa holds a Master of Sciences Degree in Agricultural Chemicals from the University of Wales and also attended the Executive Business Leadership Programme at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland and the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma.

Andrew returned to UBL from Ethiopia where he was the Managing Director of Meta Abo business. He managed the transition of our Ethiopian beer business to BGI Castel, which ensured future growth opportunities for the business and its people. 

He previously also served as the Sales Director in Uganda at UBL from 2010 to 2013, driving a turnaround within the business during this significant period when new investment in UBL was just starting.

Prior to the Ethiopia role, he was the Commercial Director at Kenya Breweries Limited since 2016, where he leveraged cutting-edge technology tools to build efficiency and effectiveness. As a result, KBL has received numerous Global awards on these initiatives and projects.

Andrew also served as Sales Director for the Premium Trade business in Kenya from 2013, where he led the spirits transformation by driving a robust IPS and reserve brands consumer participation.