By Dipo Olowookere
The Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr Jordi Borrut Bel, has tendered his resignation letter to the board of the company.
Mr Borrut Bel informed the board that he would be leaving the firm effective July 30, 2021, and the reason is that he would be taking up a new responsibility, though within the Heineken Group.
The board, which accepted his resignation, has chosen Mr Hans Essaadi as the new head of the organisation effective July 31, 2021.
The outgoing MD/CEO joined Nigerian Breweries on January 22, 2018, and has been able to successfully lead the firm through a turbulent period and a challenging operating environment.
With a 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, Mr Borrut Bel has firmly repositioned Nigerian Breweries on the recovery path for sustainable growth.
The board, in a statement signed by Mr Uaboi Agbebaku, the company secretary, believes that the incoming Nigerian Breweries MD/CEO, Mr Essaadi, will use his experience and knowledge to continue the turnaround work started by Mr Borrut Bel.
Mr Essaadi is currently the Managing Director of Al-Haram Beverages, the Heineken Operating Company in Egypt. He joined the Heineken Group as a Sales Representative in 1991 and subsequently took up increasingly senior roles within the group in sales, export and marketing.
He commenced his international career with Heineken Puerto Rico as the Country Manager and thereafter became the General Manager, Brau Union International, the Heineken 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.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka