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JOHN MUSUNGA – MANAGING DIRECTOR SOUTH, WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA, DIAGEO
From steering Diageo’s 40-market Africa region to shaping industry transformation across healthcare and beverages, John Musunga exemplifies the modern global executive – strategic, values-driven, and relentlessly future-focused. With more than two decades of global leadership experience, John Musunga stands out as one of Africa’s most influential corporate executives – an accomplished strategist whose career spans general management, global market development, and operational excellence across continents.
Since January 2024, Musunga is serving as Managing Director at Diageo, where he leads the design and implementation of a transformative commercial strategy across South, West, and Central Africa. His mandate covers 40 countries, including strategic growth markets such as South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Angola, the DRC, and the Indian Ocean Islands. He is based in the United Kingdom.
In this expansive role, he leverages deep regional insight to accelerate innovation, unlock sustainable growth, and drive long-term value creation. His leadership focuses on enhancing Diageo’s market presence while nurturing a high-performance, talent-driven culture both within the organization and among its external partners.
Before then, Musunga served as Managing Director and CEO of Guinness Nigeria, one of the country’s most iconic publicly listed companies. He led the full manufacturing-to-market value chain for globally renowned and locally beloved beverage brands between November 2022 and December 2023.
Under his leadership, Guinness Nigeria strengthened its commercial footprint, improved operational agility, and deepened community and stakeholder partnerships. He championed innovation and sustainability as cornerstones of the business, steering the company through dynamic market shifts while reinforcing its legacy as a category-defining industry leader.
Prior to his Nigeria role, Musunga was the Managing Director of Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) and UDV Kenya between March 2021 and October 2022. As the head of two of Kenya’s largest enterprises by revenue and geographic footprint, he oversaw the entire value chain – from production and commercialization to local and export market distribution across beer, ready-to-drink beverages, and spirits. His leadership not only safeguarded KBL’s market dominance but also strengthened livelihoods across a vast ecosystem of suppliers, customers, distributors, and employees. The company continued to play a central role in Kenya’s economic development under his stewardship.
Before joining Diageo, Musunga built an impressive 20-year career at GSK, where he held pivotal leadership roles across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. These included:
- Vaccines Market Leader, Export Markets – where John led vaccine commercial operations across Africa, developing countries in Asia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- Head of Supranationals, Global Vaccines (Belgium) – While here, John Managed strategic partnerships with supranational organizations across more than 60 countries worldwide.
- Managing Director & General Manager, Kenya & East Africa – where he oversaw operations in eight Eastern African countries and chaired the Kenya legal entity for a decade.
- Sales & Marketing Director, South Africa – In this capacity, John led an over 150 commercial team and drove a major business transformation initiative.
- Commercial Director, Kenya & East Africa – Here, he was instrumental in delivering M&A milestones during the merger of SmithKline Beecham and GlaxoWellcome.
Externally, Musunga has served as a director at the Kenya Vision 2030 Board, chaired the Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry, and led the Kenya HIV/AIDS Business Council. “Talent is Africa’s greatest asset. When we nurture it, businesses transform – and societies move forward.” To this end, Musunga holds an MBA degree from USIU-Africa, a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Nairobi (UoN), and has completed among other top executive development training, the Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme at Saïd Business School.
Beyond the boardroom, he remains committed to community empowerment. For instance, as a field volunteer with ANPPCAN, he dedicated time to supporting women who have been formerly incarcerated, equipping them with business skills and facilitating access to micro-loans to help them rebuild their lives. According to John Musunga, “Our responsibility is to grow sustainably, innovate boldly, and uplift the communities we serve.”
