As you read this, about 12 percent of the world’s population is drinking or planning to drink coffee. Orge Godana sits at the helm of those who make this possible—at least in East Africa. As the CFO of Java House Africa Group, Orge is the commercial leader of the group’s entities in the region.
Orge’s life has been one to draw a clear distinction between sight and vision. Growing up in Marsabit, there were only two prominent careers she could have built her life around. “The only professionals I saw around me were bankers and teachers and for a long time I wanted to work in a bank.”
Her sight said banking, her vision later said there was more than that.
Growing up with two teachers for parents, her passion inclined on maths and related careers. Her scope of view widened when she joined Alliance Girls and later Strathmore University to study Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance Double Major).
"Helping people grow and watching them achieve their dreams is my greatest achievement."
What, you ask, is the centre of it all? “God, hard work and a team of family, and mentors along the way.”
She started her career at Deloitte East Africa and transitioned into the food business while working at KFC in East Africa, where she assisted in setting up the company’s internal audit department.
She was later promoted to the CFO position within the company before transitioning to Java.
Orge reads Indra Nooyi like she is an episcopal apostle. “Her book, ‘My Life In Full’ has been very crucial in the formation of my leadership skills and style. I look up to Indra even outside the book for her phenomenon leadership.”
What counts as her biggest success? “Helping people grow and watching them achieve their dreams is my greatest achievement.”
-Ndugu Abisai