Nelly Kiogora-Toroitich was recently appointed finance director of Unilever East Africa. She replaces Sophia Mukoba-Kioko who moved to London to serve as Unilever’s global audit finance lead.
Nelly Kiogora-Toroitich was recently appointed finance director of Unilever East Africa. She replaces Sophia Mukoba-Kioko who moved to London to serve as Unilever’s global audit finance lead.
In addition to Sophia, Nelly has also been working closely with Unilever’s East Africa general manager Stefan Cloete, in both a finance role and as a strategic business partner.
“Working closely with Stefan gave me a deeper understanding on how to run a successful business and connecting people for better results. I regard myself as an all-round business leader because of this experience,” Nelly says.
Everybody who knows Nelly, including those who grew up with her, know her to be ambitious and a person who always sets high standards. She was determined to become finance director and put together a future-fit plan focusing on the skills and experiences that were required for the role. She went into work every day continually learning and developing these skills.
“I cannot take all the credit for this elevation because there is an entire ecosystem that saw my potential and supported my ambition. There are several mentors and sponsors who invested a lot of their time in me to ensure I realised my full potential that would prove useful to this transition,” Nelly reveals.
“I am fortunate to work for a company like Unilever that recognises the desire for growth that employees have. Unilever has given me an enabling environment to succeed as a woman professional, a wife and a mother of three,” she adds.
Having attended the recent CFO East Africa launch, Nelly is excited to be counted among the CFO community.
“It is about time we had a community like this! I have made several new connections and I look forward to learning from each other as we raise the bar on finance best practices,” she says.
