Marketing Edge Magazine has announced Girish Sharma, the managing director and chief executive Officer of Guinness Nigeria Plc, as the Keynote Speaker of its 2025 Summit.
The Guinness boss will be joined by a strong line of industry intellectuals and idea powerhouses in unravelling this year’s theme of National Marketing Stakeholders.
The upcoming yearly event, ‘AI Integration: Leveraging New Technologies to Achieve Business Objectives,’ is scheduled for Thursday, September 25, 2025, as a virtual event. The Edge Awards will be held on September 26, 2025, at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja, Lagos. The theme of the awards is “Excellence Beyond Borders.”
A statement explained that Sharma will speak on the theme of ‘AI Integration: Leveraging New Technologies to Achieve Business Objectives’.
Another sub-theme is ‘New Creator Value: A Re-assessment Of Traditional Creative Industry’.
Sharma, a high-flyer professional with an impressive career growth trajectory, assumed his new role as Guinness Nigeria boss in October 2024 and has spearheaded a bold transformation 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. Still, it 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 summit’s theme will address 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 for businesses, and much more.
The summit, which is a digital build up to the physical Edge Awards event, is expected to draw over 10,000 virtual attendees globally, from the integrated marketing communications ecosystem, FMCG, manufacturing, real estate, maritime, academia and other government parastatals.
Sharma brings a unique blend of commercial acumen, entrepreneurial energy, and cultural fluency to the businesses he leads.
Before joining Guinness Nigeria, Sharma served as the chief executive officer of the Colgate-Palmolive Tolaram joint venture in West Africa, where he achieved a remarkable 70 per cent 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, Sharma 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-centred approach to leadership. Outside his professional life, Sharma is an avid reader, global traveller, and angel investor with active interests in consumer tech, fintech, and scalable impact ventures.
As a leader who consistently balances performance with purpose, 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 panellists are: Baba Awopetu, Consultant, Strategy/Marketing, Stragmar, London.
Also, on the panel are Dr. Tola Bamigbaye Elatuyi, CEO, Society for Corporate Governance in Nigeria, Preetesh Sewraj, chief executive officer, Loeries and Osato-Evbuomwan, marketing director, Moet Hennessy Nigeria Ltd.The summit session will be moderated by Ozone Mbanefo, founder/provost, 02 Academy – Nigeria.
Commenting, convenner of the summit, John Ajayi, publisher/CEO of Marketing Edge Magazine Publications said, “the summit and Edge Awards are two landmark 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 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 Girish Sharma, with over 20 years of progressive leadership experience across the FMCG landscape, as our keynote speaker. We are confident that he is going to share his expertise and inspire our audience.”
According to Ajayi, the Marketing Edge National Marketing Stakeholders’ Summit is now in its 13th edition, and has become a reference point for industry thought leaders and stakeholders, including top political leaders in Nigeria such as Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the executive governor of Lagos State, among others.
