Diageo executives pay courtesy call on Asantehene

The senior executives of Diageo Plc, the global leader in alcoholic beverages and parent company of Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), led by  Mr Nick Blazquez, the President of Diageo Africa and Asia Pacific Regions, have paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Manhyia Palace.

The visit to Manhyia was to pay homage to the Asantehene as he observed Awukudae festival, to officially inform him of the departure of Nick Blazquez from Diageo Plc and to introduce Mr Francis Agbonlahor, the new Managing Director of GGBL, to him.  Blazquez is set to leave the company after 27 years of dedicated service. 

The delegation was made up of Mr John O’ Keffe, President of Diageo Africa; Mr Simon Harvey, the Managing Director of Diageo Africa Regional Markets; Mr Francis Agbonlahor, the Managing Director of GGBL; Mr Stephen Nirenstein, the Finance, Director of GGBL, and Mr Gabriel Opoku-Asare, the Corporate Relations Director of GGBL.

The delegation presented a portfolio of Diageo’s premium brands — Johnnie Walker, Cîroc, Gordon’s Gin, Guinness Africa Special, Orijin Bitters and Ruut Extra Premium Beer (Ghana's first Cassava beer) to support the Awukudae Festival. 

In his remark, Mr Blazquez expressed gratitude to Otumfuo for being a great friend and advisor to GGBL, saying that “we remain committed to Ghana; we are here for the long haul. We will continue to invest significantly in our operations, communities and our people”.

Touching on GGBL’s local raw material programme, he revealed that all locally produced GGBL brands now incorporated an element of raw material grown within Ghana, including the recently launched Guinness Africa Special. 

The programme has directly improved the livelihoods of over 7,000 small and medium-scale farmers. 

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in his remarks, mentioned that he would continue to support the company both locally and internationally and thanked the team for the visit.