Kampala, Uganda | ENTEBBENEWS.NET | Corporate networking events are increasingly becoming more than social gatherings. For multinational brands operating in Africa’s premium consumer market, they are now strategic platforms for influence-building, identity positioning, and long-term customer alignment.
That reality was visible at the Kampala Serena Hotel on May 1, where Johnnie Walker hosted an exclusive high tea event bringing together some of Uganda’s most prominent female executives under its growing She Walks initiative.
Held on Labour Day and attended by women leaders from sectors including banking, law, manufacturing, and hospitality, the “Female CEOs High Tea Edition” reflected a broader shift in how premium alcohol brands are repositioning themselves around lifestyle, inclusion, and aspirational leadership culture rather than traditional nightlife marketing.
The event blended British high tea aesthetics with whisky branding, replacing the conventional cocktail bar with floral tea trolleys serving customised Johnnie Walker Black Label cocktails including the Earl of Walker, Hibiscus Highball, and Chamomile Calm.
But beneath the polished hospitality experience was a more strategic business objective: embedding the Johnnie Walker brand within networks of influence increasingly shaped by female corporate leadership.
For years, premium whisky advertising in Africa largely targeted male consumers through themes of status, ambition, and masculinity. However, changing workplace demographics, rising female executive visibility, and evolving urban consumption patterns are pushing brands to recalibrate their engagement strategies.
The She Walks platform appears to be part of that recalibration.
Speaking at the event, Christine Kyokunda described the initiative as a growing regional movement focused on visibility and support for women leaders.
“She Walks began as a simple idea to bring women together, and today it has grown into a powerful community built on shared experiences and support. For us at Johnnie Walker, it’s about championing inclusive progress by creating spaces where women are seen, heard, and empowered to keep moving forward,” she said.
Her remarks highlighted how multinational lifestyle brands are increasingly positioning themselves not simply as product sellers, but as facilitators of social identity and professional aspiration.
The evening’s keynote speaker, Félicité Nson, used the platform to reflect on gender dynamics within leadership spaces, offering personal experiences of bias encountered during her corporate journey.
“Leadership is not just about having a seat at the table; it’s about how you show up when you get there. I have learned that empathy is not a weakness; it is a strength that allows you to lead people, not just processes. As women, we must walk boldly into every room, challenge perceptions when necessary, and ensure that as we rise, we make space for others to rise with us,” she said.
The speech highlighted a continuing tension within East Africa’s corporate environment. While women are increasingly occupying senior executive positions, leadership spaces across the region remain structurally male-dominated, particularly in finance, manufacturing, and industrial sectors.
Events such as She Walks are therefore functioning simultaneously as networking platforms, symbolic visibility exercises, and soft-power interventions aimed at reshaping corporate culture narratives.
Among the guests was Susan Kabonero Muwhezi, who reflected on the role of identity and perception in leadership.
Quoting author Maya Angelou, she told guests: “People will not remember what you said, but how you made them feel.”
She later concluded with a brief but symbolic message: “Please Walk!”
Analysts say the rise of women-focused executive platforms also reflects changing commercial realities within East Africa’s urban middle and upper-income markets, where female professionals are becoming increasingly influential consumers of premium lifestyle products.
For brands like Johnnie Walker, aligning with women’s leadership narratives allows them to simultaneously strengthen cultural relevance and expand into demographic spaces previously under-targeted by premium alcohol marketing.
The strategy is not unique to Uganda. Across African cities including Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, and Kigali, luxury brands are increasingly attaching themselves to conversations around inclusion, empowerment, entrepreneurship, and wellness as younger affluent consumers demand values-driven engagement alongside product experience.
At the Kampala event, that positioning was reinforced through highly curated aesthetics, emotional storytelling, and community-centred interaction rather than overt commercial messaging.
The evening eventually concluded with karaoke performances and collective singalongs to songs including Lean on Meand Dancing Queen, creating a softer social ending to what was, at its core, a carefully structured brand influence exercise.
