Africa is a high-priority region for the global multinational alcoholic beverage company Diageo, which has experienced loss of market share in the US and Asia in recent years. Planning to buff up its exposure in the region to account for 20% of global sales over the next decade, Diageo maintains a strong focus on Ethiopia, where it operates its flagship Addis Ababa-based Meta Abo Brewery.

The company has recently completed a $119m expansion work at this production facility, which is now equipped with three production lanes with a capacity of 40,000, 33,000 and 36,000 bottles per hour for each lane. Employed as a company secretary and general counsel at the organisation since 2012, Wintana Shimelis-Poujade has been a driving force behind this project and remains actively engaged in a number of internal initiatives.

Having impressed with her flair for international business, Shimelis-Poujade recently added additional regional responsibilities to her role, which now covers Diageo’s Ethiopia Hub and Indian Ocean. Prior to her role at Diageo, she served as a legal advisor at conglomerate Openasia Capital Limited and the fund management advisor Trin Trin International. Shimelis-Poujade’s career kicked off with brief spells at the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, Airbus and Vovan & Associes.