By Foday Moriba Conteh
Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL) concluded its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the 2023 financial year on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The event, held at the company’s Conference Hall in the Wellington Industrial Estate, Freetown, brought together key officials including Ludovic Auvray, Board Chairman; Ayokunle Owoniyi, Acting Managing Director; Ivan D. Carrol, Director; Lewis Tuni Pratt, Director; Menisa Sesay Esq., Board Secretary and shareholders.
During the meeting, Board Secretary, Menisa Sesay Esq. presented the notice of the meeting, which included the Directors’ Report, the Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2023, the Profit and Loss Account for the year and the Auditors’ Report. The agenda also covered the appointment of new Directors, the re-election of Directors retiring by rotation, setting Directors’ remuneration, re-appointing Auditors and authorizing the Directors to fix the Auditors’ remuneration.
Addressing the gathering, Ayokunle Owoniyi, Acting Managing Director SLBL acknowledged the significant contributions of his predecessor, Maarten Schuurman, to the company.
Auvray provided an overview of the business environment, noting that 2023 was a challenging year for the company.
He mentioned that the country’s real GDP growth rate was about 2.7%, with inflation averaging around 49%. Additionally, the average exchange rate for the year was about 58% higher than the 2022 average.
Ayokunle Owoniyi highlighted that the company faced social and political tensions, including the impact of the general elections and an attempted coup, which significantly affected their year-end sales volume due to the resulting curfew imposed by the Government.
He expressed gratitude to the distinguished shareholders, local customers, consumers and all stakeholders, including the Government and people of Sierra Leone, for their continued support.
The meeting also covered other significant areas such as the appointment of Members of the Board of SLBL, re-election of Directors retiring by rotation and re-appointing Auditors, all of which were done through voting by shareholders. Additionally, discussions included operating results, supply chain investments, sales and export, marketing, human resources, the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda etc.
