When Jane Karuku assumed the helm as Group Managing Director and CEO of East African Breweries Limited (EABL) on January 1, 2021, she didn’t just make history—she ignited transformation across East Africa’s largest brewing empire.
Armed with a BSc in Food Science & Technology from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from the University of California, La Jolla, she brought over 25 years of diverse leadership experience—from Cadbury East & Central Africa to Telkom Kenya and AGRA.
Within a year, Karuku masterminded a remarkable turnaround: EABL’s net sales rebounded to Sh86 billion in June 2021—a 15% jump—signaling a swift recovery from pandemic disruptions.
That momentum carried through into 2024, with revenue soaring to Ksh124.7 billion (approx. $849 million) and profit before tax reaching Ksh10.9 billion, cementing EABL’s billion-dollar valuation.
But Karuku’s vision extended well beyond the profit and loss sheet.
EABL’s inaugural 2021 Sustainability Report launched a 10-year, US $5 million bar and pub recovery fund, then in 2022 followed with a Ksh5.1 billion investment in biomass plants—cutting carbon emissions by 95% and meeting nearly 97% of the company’s energy needs via renewables.
Today, EABL operates as a zero-waste-to-landfill company and is targeting Net‑Zero in direct operations by 2030.
Karuku hasn’t stopped at sustainability—she’s dismantling gender bias.
In 2019 EABL pioneered a 26‑week maternity leave, plus four weeks of paternity leave—the first in East Africa.
She set a vision for 50% women in leadership by 2030, bolstered by initiatives like unconscious-bias training, female graduate pipelines, and the “Spirited Women” mentorship network, already elevating the share of female senior managers by 16–18% in recent years.
Under her leadership, EABL has forged deep ties with over 60,000 farmers, embedding local sourcing (up to 80% of raw materials) into its supply chain and contributing ~1% to Kenya’s GDP.
The Kisumu brewery, a Ksh15 billion investment, now supports 100,000 jobs, sourcing sorghum from thousands of farmers.
As Chair of the Kenya COVID‑19 Emergency Response Fund, she helped mobilize over Ksh1.8 billion in aid, distributing PPE and other essentials through transparent, audit-backed channels.
In July 2024 she broke another glass ceiling—being appointed Chairperson of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, only the second woman ever to hold the role.
Karuku leads with both rigor and empathy. She once said: “I like working through teams…but once we decide where we want to go, I’m quite tough to ensure we all work towards that direction,” emphasizing discipline and unity.
She is also candid about lifelong learning—spending four years raising her young family, acquiring her MBA, then returning to work renewed—and she defines her leadership approach as “wholesome”: corporate, mentor, mother, and wife.
Her mantra? “My purpose is to grow people…to inspire them to unleash their potential.” It’s a statement not just of personal philosophy, but corporate culture.
Karuku is not just shaping EABL—she is sculpting a blueprint for African corporate leadership. For aspiring women, she’s a beacon of possibility.
For industries, she’s proof that profit and purpose can thrive in tandem. And for the continent, she’s forging a future where integrity, inclusivity, and sustainability define success.
Jane Karuku’s story underscores a powerful truth: success in business doesn’t have to be zero-sum.
Her mixture of bold strategy, sustainability, and social empowerment shows that African enterprise can—and should—redefine what it means to lead with impact.
