To expatriates, Uganda is the reward
Share a moment with their granddaughter. The couple has been married for 37 years. PHOTOS BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Greg Metcalf is in a relaxed mood. It probably has to do with the fact that the former managing director of Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) is leaving the company at the end of May. It can be liberating when you do not have to worry about market share, profitability and growth.
“I am a workaholic,” he says, continuing, “I spend a lot of time with my job because I love running a business and competing. But, I have a hobby that helps me relax – painting. I also work out but I am not an exercise freak.”
Mostly, he takes pictures of people and then, paints them. “It is something my wife got me into some years ago. I do not sell my paintings, though; I do them for amusement.”
Two peas in a pod
Metcalf’s wife has been a part of his life for 37 years. They met at a party, where he was on a date with another girl. “When I saw her, I was interested. I asked around and it turned out her brother was my friend. We were high school sweethearts. We started off as two different people but after many years became similar and have adapted to each other. That is the secret to a good marriage.”
The Metcalfs have two sons – in their 30s – and one granddaughter who live in the USA. He advises that marriage is about compromise and learning to be friends with your partner.
“We share many things but we have never merged into one person. She also paints, but there are things she likes to do that I would never do. I would never watch the TVs shows and movies she loves.”
Away from home
Moving to Uganda in 2008 was a defining moment. They had never lived out of South Africa before and they had to leave their sons behind. “My wife had a business in Cape Town and I had a good job. When we took the decision to move to Uganda with SABMiller it was a huge step. The environment was unfamiliar.
It is easy for an expatriate because you get caught up in the work, but the wife cannot work. That is really when you have to rely on each other because things can be very tense.”
Describing themselves as moderately social, the Metcalfs cultivated a group of friends with whom they occasionally have get-togethers. However, they cherish the private time.
“We have attended more formal functions than we would have done in South Africa. The highlight of my African experience is that we have made friends from all over the world.
The only time that scared me was when I was walking out of the airport in Accra, Ghana in 2009. I had never felt such humidity before. It is almost physical; it hits you and takes your breath away. I wondered how I would live in that climate, but I adapted.”
His challenges
As a workaholic, Metcalf’s toughest challenges are business related. And the hardest was during the takeover of SABMiller, the parent company of NBL, by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev). “It was a traumatic time. In the year or so that this process has been playing out, there was a lot of uncertainly and as managing director, I had to help employees manage through that. It is a challenge keeping people motivated and focused.”
While he was offered a promotion, Metcalf believes the takeover created an opportunity for him to contemplate his future. “At my age, was I ready to start all over with a new organisation? This would involve a lot of travelling and yet I wanted to be closer to my family.
We decided I should resign and we would move to Canada to be nearer to the children. We have always been a very close family.” In Canada, Metcalf will pursue beer-related ventures, such as craft beer and hops processing.
Championing women empowerment
Metcalf believes it makes common sense to hire more women in the workplace. “Lack of skills is the biggest challenge to businesses in Africa. Africa is an emerging economy, so you have lots of jobs and few skilled people; the education systems are not churning out people with the right skills.
Logic tells you there is no difference in the capability, brain power, and talent between men and women, so if I bias myself towards men, I am automatically excluding myself from half of the talent pool.”
When he arrived at NBL three years ago, only 14 per cent of the workforce was female. “My team and I adopted a strategy where 30 per cent of the appointments of every department must be female.”
Having worked in Ghana for some time, Metcalf considers Ugandans as special people who have made his experience in Africa great.
Tipbits
What attracted you to the position?
In the expatriate community, there is this secret that if you have done a good job you might be rewarded by going to Uganda. Uganda is seen as one of the nicer destinations, so I was happy to move here.
Best moments
When I arrived the business had a good track record but it was going through a tough period. In 2011, the economy was in bad shape and NBL was not copying well. In the three years, though, we have grown volumes by over 30 percent, increased market share to 59 per cent, and improved profitability despite the 2016 election aftermath.
In 2002, 96 per cent of our raw materials were imported. Today, 84 per cent are locally sourced. In the past two years we have had floods and then droughts, so farmers have struggled and that has made it more difficult for us to get raw materials. Whereas normally we would hold a health buffer stock, today we basically operate hand-to-mouth.
Future of the industry
Our view of the Ugandan beer market is long-term. Only 10-15 per cent of the alcohol consumed in Uganda is beer.
The vast majority is illicit alcohol that drains the economy because the manufacturers do not pay tax.
There is opportunity for improvement as long as we keep beer affordable. The average Ugandan drinks 8 litres of beer a year, which is really low by world standards.
In five years, we hope this will double. Government was initially supportive, but it is now proposing to increase excise duty on beer. High beers prices will send people to illicit alcohol. That is our biggest challenge.
