#6

Amb Dennis Awori

BOARD CHAIR – CFAO KENYA

Ambassador (Amb) Dennis Awori has spent the majority of his career in the motor industry across East Africa. Since 2017, he has served as Chair and Country Delegate of the Corporation of Africa and Overseas (CFAO) Kenya. Additionally, Amb Awori sits on the board of directors of the CFAO Group: a French conglomerate wholly owned by Toyota Tsusho Corporation, with subsidiaries across sub-Saharan Africa.

Generating a revenue of over € 6.9 billion and access to 47 of the 54 countries in Africa, CFAO is a leading player in mobility, healthcare, consumer goods, infrastructure and energy. The Group partners with pioneer international brands, encapsulating the entire value chain- imports, production and distribution- in line with the best international standards, from years of hands-on knowledge and local expertise.

The CFAO Group’s purpose in Africa is to contribute to the development of African economies, growing with its people and communities even as it reinforces and expands its diverse business. It is also to move towards carbon neutrality by promoting eco-friendly cars and providing, as well as using, clean energy.

Following the global call to align business goals with sustainability, CFAO aims to realise five prioritised Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include: Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG #3), Quality Education (SDG #4), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG #7), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG #8), and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG #9).

CFAO Kenya, steered by Amb Awori on its board and guided by the Group’s objectives, has continued to live up to these ideals by consolidating and strengthening its extensive network with an enhanced product offering. The company invests in several key sectors while producing abundant growth opportunities for both its internal and external stakeholders.

In 2022, the company changed the name of its flagship business from Toyota Kenya to CFAO Motors Kenya, in recognition of the fact that it is a multi-brand distributor with a wide offering of automotive solutions, through an extremely extensive network. Some of these automotives include: four-wheelers, saloon cars, light commercials, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), trucks and buses.

Last year saw a lot of expansion and collaboration for CFAO Kenya. In April 2022, the motor giant launched the construction of a KES 500 million new showroom in Kisumu, and later in the year, a new state-of-the-art accidents repair shop in Nairobi.

CFAO Kenya has created synergies with other motor companies, for example, DT Dobie and Toyotsu Automart. This, in turn, has led to the merger and creation of a strong mobility company representing the world’s leading motor brands.

In March 2022, CFAO Kenya acquired 30 percent shares of the Goodlife Pharmacy chains in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, to add to its chains of retail outlets for its import, wholesale and distribution business in Laborex. Laborex is a subsidiary of Eurapharma, a member of the CFAO Group. By combining the strength of Goodlife, the largest pharmacy chain in East Africa, and Laborex, a pioneer in the country’s pharmaceutical industry, CFAO is improving access to high quality pharmaceuticals.

Towards the agricultural sector, CFAO Kenya teamed up with Timac Agro, a leading fertiliser manufacturer, in 2022. To this end, Timac Agro acquired a leading stake in CFAO Agri, the agri-business division of CFAO Kenya. Timac Agro brings on board its global expertise in plant soil and animal nutrition, complete with its international support services, to enhance CFAO’s Baraka Fertilizer Brand. The partnership is designed to help East African farmers meet their quality and yield needs.

Additionally, CFAO Kenya launched a new channel for the supply of tractors, based on a digital aggregator model. This brings together input supplies (seeds, fertilisers, agriculture mechanisation services) and links them to farmers and the off-takers of their products; a very effective way of reaching out to the smallholder farmers.

July last year saw CFAO Kenya buy 30 percent of OFGEN: a leading African solar power service provider. The CFAO Group has worked with OFGEN since 2018, to solarise its owned premises within East Africa. With this investment, CFAO Kenya has embarked on the sales and installation of rooftop solar projects in the commercial and industrial sectors, where companies and institutions are looking for stable and more affordable electric power.

Finally, in 2022, Mobility 54 and Health 54 – the CFAO Group’s corporate venture capital (VC) subsidiaries – invested in digital start-up companies across the African continent. In Kenya for example, Mobility 54 invested in Acceleron (a battery assembler), SparePap (a spares and services platform) and Basigo (an electric vehicle assembler).

Under Amb Awori’s thought leadership, CFAO Kenya is destined for a successful 2023. The company’s productive activities of the past year clearly demonstrate that it is “With Africa, For Africa” and for the long haul.

 Amb Awori has served on several other boards throughout the years including the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), now Communications Authority (CA), The National Vision 2030 and the country’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). He was the founding Vice Chair of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), and the founding Chair of the KEPSA Foundation. Dennis is also an independent non-executive Director of various other companies.

 From 2003 to 2009, he was the Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to Japan. During Amb Awori’s term, he aided in the opening of a new Embassy in Korea. In addition, he built strong relations between Kenya and the two countries, especially through their private sectors, in keeping with Kenya’s focus on economic diplomacy.

 Amb Awori holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom (UK). Further academic achievements include a business leadership program at Ashridge Management College, and a management development program from the Emory Business School of Atlanta in the United States of America (USA).

 A rugby aficionado, Amb. Awori represented Kenya and East Africa in competitive rugby. He chaired both the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) and the Uganda Rugby Union (URU) in consecutive terms.

 Dennis is a renowned Rotarian and is a past President of the Rotary Club of Nairobi East.