Compared to the established markets of Europe and America with their ageing populations and faltering demand, sub-Saharan Africa is infinitely more youthful and dynamic. That's the view of Diageo's African chief, as she explains to Ron Emler … 

Whisky is not enjoying the most prosperous of times but Hina Nagarajan's optimism is boundless. Appointed Diageo's President of Africa last spring, she is certain the continent's dynamics will generate an upswell of demand for quality spirits South of the Sahara and that Scotch will be in the van.

"It is a very dynamic patch with huge potential. The penetration of alcohol in Africa is still at 40%. But if you look at the legal drinking age population this penetration is quite low if you compare it to the developed world where it could be 60% or 70%," she explains.

"Even with that 40% penetration, just the population growth and the number of legal drinking age consumers who will come into drinking over the next five years will more than double the number of consumers. We have 150 million to 200 million consumers today; that number will grow to half a billion by 2050.

"Per capita consumption of alcohol is still quite low at 4.2 litres versus a developed market such as the UK which is about seven litres.  Spirits are only 19% of total alcohol consumption in Africa whereas in the rest of the world they are about 27%. Add to that Scotch is very meaningful for Africans," she asserts.

"When people move into spirits, whisky is the biggest category they move into and scotch is high equity. Add in the urbanisation and the building affluence in Africa and Scotch has huge potential. It's anybody's guess how many times the category will multiply.

"There is a long history of Scotch in Africa, it has its own value equation. It is seen as very aspirational, very premium. Wanting to upgrade to Scotch is very premium for consumers."

Her connection to the continent dates from 2018, when Diageo's then CEO, the late Sir Ivan Menezes, asked her to run the company's Sub-Saharan business from London. "We grew very fast and within two and a half years we were contributing 50% of Africa's growth," she says. This led to promotion and a return to her home city of Delhi to run United Spirits, the group's operation in India.

A key priority there is "government advocacy and the regulatory frameworks working on tackling the balance between excise revenue and health and illicit liquor control," she explains. "We have models around the world to say that there are sweet spots between how high taxation should be and where the market grows." The experience has helped with Africa and one of its the biggest challenges – that of fakes.

Despite consumers resisting premiumisation in the developed world and China, it is playing a pivotal role in her Africa strategy, just as in India. "Newer consumers are wanting to drink better, not more. I see that in countries right across Africa," she says.

At the brand level she has a small central hub in Nairobi but delegates activity to local operators especially in the 35 key centres of population which account for 70% of consumption south of the Sahara.

"Wherever the consumer goes in Africa, they should be able to experience our brand in exactly the same way. The Johnnie Walker philosophy is ‘Keep Walking' and our marketing work builds on that and will not change anywhere in Africa. What changes is the cultural nuances. So, in Nigeria we will have a Nigerian face and in Kenya we will have a Kenyan face. The same content will have cultural relevance for each of the markets. The brand is global and the execution is local to the market."

Hina also welcomes the expansion of demand for alternative spirits such as Irish whiskey or cognac in Africa. "It will expand the category. There is a consumer trend of experimenting with more flavours, with more categories and the occasions of drinking where they might drink a Scotch.

"We are able to capture any entry with our range, At the lower end, we have Black & White, Bells and Vat 69. Then there is the Johnnie Walker range which starts from Red; we now have Blonde which is a much more accessible mixable Scotch and which is already doing very well. We expect to do very well with the RTD and therefore we can bring people into the core spirit.

"We have the range to capture any upgrade that happens on account of the affluence that is coming to Africa.

There is evidence that Hina's recipe is working. In the first quarter of Diageo's financial year, where the overall results were disappointing at best, Africa's growth approached double digits. "I am sure as the year goes along, we will be accelerating," she says. "We want to continue Africa on the path of double-digit growth, premiumise and move our operating margins up substantially."

Does she ever relax? "Oh, I do many things. I love to travel. My son lives in Toronto and our daughter is in New York." She also walks a lot with her husband and savours a single malt.