Freddy Messanvi, a current McGill-HEC Montreal EMBA program participant, has been appointed as the General Manager for the West African Markets in the American and Sub-Saharan Africa region of British American Tobacco (BAT). In this role, he will be responsible for driving the BAT business and growth strategy for the Anglophone and Francophone markets that make up the West African Markets. These markets include Ghana, Gambia, Togo, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”), Liberia and some others smaller markets.

Freddy joined British American Tobacco in 2001 as a Management Trainee and then as a Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Executive in DRC. He rose through the ranks and held several leadership positions in Regulatory Affairs and Legal within the West African Area. He worked in several markets including DRC, Senegal and Nigeria. In 2015, Freddy was appointed Legal and External Affairs Director for the West African Sub region, the position he held until his recent appointment as the General Manager for the West African Markets.

Freddy enrolled in the McGill-HEC Montreal EMBA program and began in 2019 with the 12th cohort. In his words, “the EMBA experience has been intense, relatable and therefore rewarding.” He is a “frequent-flyer” participant, travelling to Montreal from Africa approximately once a month to attend class.