The board of Nigerian Breweries Plc, on Friday, announced the appointment of Hans Essaadi as Managing Director/Chief Executive.
He replaces Jordi Borrut Bel, who assumed the role on January 22, 2018, according to a notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited by Uaboi Agbebaku, NB’s Company Secretary.
Borrut Bel exits the board of NB Plc on July 30, 2021, when he is billed to complete his assignment and take up another assignment within the Heineken Group.
Essaadi, currently the Managing Director of Al Haram Beverages, the Heineken Operating Company (OpCo) in Egypt, will resume office in Nigeria on July 31, 2021, 30 years after joining the group as a Sales Representative in 1991.
The incoming CEO, who has taken up increasingly senior roles within the group in Sales, Export and Marketing, since joining the group, is expected to continue the turnaround work started by Borrut Bel.
He began his international career with Heineken Puerto Rico as the Country Manager, before becoming General Manager, Brau Union International, the group’s OpCo in Austria.
Before his current role in Egypt, he was General Manager, Siroco (the Heineken Joint Venture with the Emirates in Dubai) and Managing Director, Heineken Malaysia Berhad, a listed Company in Malaysia.
In accepting the outgoing managing director’s letter of resignation from the board, the directors recalled how he “has been able to successfully lead the Company through a turbulent period and a challenging operating environment.”
The statement recalled Borrut Bel’s “keen focus on people development, product innovation, expansion of the Route-to-Market, cost leadership, customer and consumer focus, stakeholder engagement and ensuring return on investment for investors.”
Borrut Bel, the directors noted, “has firmly repositioned the company on the recovery path for sustainable growth.”
