AfriPulse
LAGOS – Marketing Edge Magazine, an award-wining marketing publications has announced that Girish Sharma, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Guinness Nigeria Plc, will be the keynote speaker of its 2025 Summit.
The Guinness boss will be joined by a strong line of industry intellectuals and ideas power- house in unravelling the theme of this years National Marketing Stake- holders.
The upcoming yearly event with the main theme :AI Interaction: Leveraging New Technologies To Achieve Business Objectives is scheduled for Thursday 25 September, 2025, as a virtual event while the Edge Awards will be held on Friday 26 September ,2025 at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja, Lagos.
The award-specific theme is, “Excellence Beyond Borders”.
Mr. Sharma will be speaking on the main theme: “AI Inter:action: Leveraging New Technologies To Achieve Business Objectives”
Another sub- theme is “New Creator Value; A Re- Assessment Of Traditional Creative Industry.”
Sharma, a high-flight professional with impressive career growth trajectory assumed his new role as Guinness Nigeria boss in October 2024, and has spearheaded a bold transformative agenda that has stabilised business fundamentals, rejuvenated commercial execution, and reignited growth in one of Africa’s most dynamic consumer markets.
Under his stewardship, Guinness Nigeria has not only recovered financial momentum but has also reasserted its place as a leading force in the Nigerian Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) industry, a testament to his strategic clarity and operational discipline.
The theme of the summit will be addressing how industry stakeholders could build proactive businesses that leverage artificial intelligence and other technology-driven innovations to achieve sustained growth, the tangible benefits of AI-driven digital transformation to a business and much more.
The summit, which is a digital build-up to the physical Edge Award event, is expected to draw over ten thousand virtual attendees globally, from the integrated marketing communications ecosystem, FMCG, manufacturing, real estate, maritime, academia and other government parastatal.
Girish brings a unique blend of commercial acumen, entrepreneurial energy, and cultural fluency to the businesses he leads. He is widely respected for building high-performance organisations and scaling iconic brands across diverse geographies (particularly in complex, high-growth emerging markets).
Prior to joining Guinness Nigeria, Girish served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Colgate-Palmolive Tolaram joint venture in West Africa, where he achieved a remarkable 70% compound annual growth rate in top-line revenue over five years.
During this time, he built a scalable, agile business model that blended global best practices with deep local insights, earning him recognition as a transformative leader in the personal care space.
Beyond the boardroom, Girish is an advocate for inclusive leadership and a firm believer in the power of mentorship and human capital development.
He is actively involved in coaching the next generation of African business leaders and contributes thought leadership on topics such as innovation, ethical leadership, and business resilience.
Known for his intellectual curiosity and strategic foresight, he combines rigorous thinking with a human-centered approach to leadership.
Outside his professional life, Girish is an avid reader, global traveler, and angel investor with active interests in consumer tech, fintech, and scalable impact ventures.
As a leader who consistently balances performance with purpose, Girish Sharma exemplifies the kind of values-driven, globally minded individual who would contribute meaningfully to any club or society that values integrity, leadership, and community.
Other renowned marketing professionals with incredible career pedigree as panelists are: Mr Baba Awopetu, Consultant ,Strategy/ Marketing ,Stragmar,London.Also,on the panelist are Dr Tola Bamigbaye Elatuyi,CEO,Society for Corporate Governance in Nigeria,Mr Preetesh Sewraj,Chief Executive Officer ,Loeries and Mr Osato-Evbuomwan,Marketing Director,,Moet Hennessy Nigeria Ltd.The summit session will be moderated by Mr. Ozone Mbanefo,Founder/ Provost ,02 Academy – Nigeria.
The convenner of the summit, Mr. John Ajayi,Publisher/CEO of Marketing Edge Public mmmmsaid ” the summit and EDGE AWARDS are two landmarks yearly activities in the social and impact making annals of the magazine in the industry : He further stated that the magazine is excited to have a highly knowledgeable industry intellectual like Mr Girish Sharma leading the conversation this year because of his invaluable contributions to knowledge growth and capacity building in the industry over the years. His words,” We are thrilled to have Mr. Girish Sharma, with over 20 years of progressive leadership experience across the FMCG landscape, as our keynote speaker. W are confident that he is going to share his expertise and inspire our audience.”
According to Mr. Ajayi, the MARKETING EDGE NATIONAL MARKETING STAKEHOLDERS’ SUMMIT is now in its 13th edition, and has become a reference pont for industry thought leaders and stakeholders, including top political leaders in Nigeria such as Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, among others.
He also noted that the theme of this year’s summit, AI INTEGRATION: LEVERAGING NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES, will explore how AI accelerates business innovation and brings agility to empower the workforce and increase efficiency.
”We are optimistic that the keynote speakers and panelists who are experts in various sectors shall, during the summit, provide deep market and industry insights on how AI-integration can help businesses to streamline operations,” he said.
The second session of the Summit with the theme, ” New Creator Value: A Reassesment of Traditional Creative Industry will be led by Mr. Obi Asika, the DIRECTOR-GENERAL, NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ARTS AND CULTURE, NIGERIA as a keynote speaker. He will be joined by a galaxy of industry titans, professional icons and industry intellectuals as panelists..These are ; Dr. Akintunde -Johnson Bada,Country Manager,Paramount Africa, Mr. Femi Odugbemi, Founder/ Executive Producer,ZURI 24 Media,Mr Remi Ogunpitan,The Founder,IBST Ltd and Mr. Samuel Onyemelukwe,Group Businness Development Director,Trace West Africa and Mr Dare Art Alade, Chief Executive Officer,Livesport 360°
The session will be moderated by Mr. Peter Osarimen Ukhurebor,Founder/ CEO Black At,United States
Mr. Asika , a seasoned professional and versatile public office holder will be speaking on the theme, “NEW CREATOR VALUE: A REASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL CREATIVE INDUSTRY.
Mr. Asika has been a key driver and leader of the creative industries in Nigeria for more than 30 years. He is an ecosystem builder, who, before entering public office convened and launched the Omniverse, a multi sector collaboration platform. The platform is underlined by the tech ecosystem that has brought Nigeria’s storytelling power of the creative industries to the fore.
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