Ms Eunice Waweru believes in inclusion and diversity and is part of the Spirited Women, a programme at UBL, where she nurtures women professionally and even on a personal front both at the company level and beyond, writes Joan Salmon

Our first meeting would have gone south but Ms Eunice Waweru saved the day. I learnt that we would not be able to meet at the time planned as I sat in a lobby. Thinking I would not be able to have the interview, I had started to count my losses, but Ms Waweru, the Finance and Strategy Director at Uganda Breweries Ltd (UBL), stepped up.

She wanted to make it up to me at a place of my convenience. That is why I believed her when she said she is humble, respectful, authentic, and caring, with no qualms about rolling up her sleeves to work with anyone.

The chat after her negotiating the four-flight staircase to my office desk was enveloped in laughter and ‘aha’ moments. She sure loves a good laugh.

“I always watch out for people and ensure that whoever I touch along the path gets to a better place or is a better version of them,” she says. 

This is what leadership is all about, she says.

The mother of two has been around the world and carries a lot of experience along the way. Hers is a journey of resilience, learning, new frontiers, mentorship and more.

Around the time she was doing her undergraduate and master’s degree in corporate finance in the US, Ms Waweru soon became a family woman and her career continued to bloom.

While there, she worked for an Oil and Gas company (1995), Bank of America (1998), and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) (Oct 2007), which has since been taken over by Hewlett Packard.

However, Africa beckoned at them as a better quality place to raise children. 

“After taking my daughter to a soccer game on a very cold winter day, I knew I could not do it anymore. I decided to be bold, move back to Africa with no job but trusted God that all would be okay,” she narrates.

The first opportunity she got was a job advertised by East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) in the newspapers in Kenya. Applying and getting the role, the paycheck (a quarter of her previous job) knocked the joy out of her.

“It was a reality check. Thankfully, the house we were staying in was very cheap and so were the school fees compared to the private school fees in the US. That way, we managed well,” she says.

It was here that her first mentor came aboard, a human resource practitioner, who encouraged her to take on the job.

 “If you are who you say you are and work hard, are a go-getter, you’re going to climb up the ladder,” she said. 

That was the push she needed because since then, it has been one experience after another as she has navigated the work ethics and culture corporate world in Kenya with its shocks and challenges.

Coming in as a business insights manager, sales and marketing were the focus which necessitated that she learns about the economy, the consumers and their preferences as well as ensure that the return on investment was positive.

The other lesson was how to work with people as the slow pace with which people worked was foreign. “I learned to be patient, listen and let people do their job rather than take on more roles to ensure a task was accomplished. I also built great relationships that have lasted decades,” she says.

Ms Waweru grew to become the Head of Finance EABL Investment Ltd and was based in South Sudan. The next role was financial controllership of EABL at group level, in Kenya. 

She also took on part time work as Finance Director for Uganda Breweries, and then moved on to Nigeria as Head of Commercial Finance.

She learnt many lessons and continued to grow in these various roles with people like Mr Peter Ndegwa and Mr Mark Ochitti offering her guidance and mentorship and trusting her with various responsibilities.

An achievement she is proud of is when she lobbied for a system to ease her team’s work then. They were working manually with Excel and as a result spent late nights at the office. Diageo management agreed to have a system set up and worked with the IT department. It was rolled out and is still in use.  

She has also learnt to take risks and make decisions that she believes work for her. When she got the job in Nigeria, she always worked for a week at home in Kenya to catch up with her family. However, in March 2020, after her home visit ritual, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and everything was shut down.

Gradually, the restrictions were eased and in August, the airports were opened. Family starved, Ms Waweru left Nigeria at the first opportunity. She would never return. A director role at.

UBL opened up and after application and interviews, she came out successful.

“Apart from working here before, Uganda and Ugandans are so beautiful, welcoming, and accommodating so the adjustment was very easy. It’s been three years and I am enjoying building teams, especially women,” she says.

Opportunity

In February 2021, the UBL Managing Director was moved to Latin America allowing Ms Waweru to become the acting CEO for 10 months. 

“The role made me start interacting more with stakeholders. The support I got from here and Kenya as well as our UBL teams made the job doable,” she says. 

Ms Waweru believes in inclusion and diversity and is part of the Spirited Women, a programme at the company, where she nurtures women professionally and even on a personal front both at UBL and beyond.

UBL, she says, is intentional and committed towards inclusion and diversity and it is one of the Key performance indicators (KPIs) Ms Waweru reports to the board about, quarterly. The company is also big on provisions such as fl exi-time where women can work remotely and the maternity leave is at six months, contrary to the norm of three months, she states.

Childhood

Raised by a father who worked for a tea company and whom she says led well and a banker mother who was very organised and detail-oriented, Ms Waweru had excellent role models. 

“Today, I am eager to empower my teams through coaching and mentorship because more gets done with teamwork than dictating,” she says.

It warmed her heart when a woman who worked under her years back shared how the seemingly mundane tips she gave her and the team years back are what she is using as a Chief Finance Officer today. 

While she has done coaching both internally and externally, Ms Waweru believed she could do more when certified. Today, she is a Certified Executive Coach which she trained for at Career Connections in Nairobi. 

Women mentors

Ms Jane Karuku, the EABL group managing director, Ms Rispa Ohaga, the current EABL Chief Finance Officer (CFO), and Ms Mary Wangare through her book, The Village Girl have all inspired Waweru to be more. 

“Those are some of the women I look up to. Being East Africans, I can relate and I am encouraged that I can be more as well, as well as inspire those that look up to me,” she says.

Women in male-dominated jobs

It is often said that men judge women harshly but Ms Waweru says men always think that women are their own worst enemies.

“The comments some men make could border on disrespect or that women are less knowledgeable. I believe that these are sometimes unconscious. However, when they leave you out of important conversations, they are sending a very clear loud message. So I try, as much as possible, to be in the conversations. I find a way to be seen and heard, widening my area of exposure and success. However, I cannot stop somebody from having their opinion,” she says.  

Ms Waweru likes to address matters head-on, and to get feedback to fi x what is not right. She advises women to seek feedback.

“Don’t fight feedback. Just remove the noise and work on what is important there,” she says.

She encourages women to go for the so-called male jobs and see what is out there for them and to learn to network. “It does not have to always happen in the evening. Organise things to work for you,” she tips.

“It helps to plan things, I learned that as I took over as Group Financial Controller. My predecessor’s ways meant that I stayed out longer than I desired. For instance, rather than have late dinners with clients, I did breakfasts. You do not have to fit in someone else’s shoes, doing things their way. Find your place and own it,” she says.

Collaboration

As regards family, remembering her time in Nigeria, Ms Waweru tells women to make use of their support mechanisms as there is no prize for doing it all by yourself.

Many women have been talked down and have accepted that as their fate but Ms Waweru urges women not to let anyone tell them they are not good enough because you can get to any level you put your mind to: “I was once told that the statement, ‘It is not the right time’ only applies to jail. Therefore, go and ask for that promotion without holding back.”