Board Member
Racey Muchilwa is the Head of Novartis Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), leading 46 countries. Since becoming the SSA Head in 2019, she has charted a new strategic direction for the business, pivoting towards sustainable patient reach metrics. SSA is home to one of the world’s largest underserved populations, hence the bold aspiration to accelerate access to healthcare and high-quality medicines to over 1B people in the region.
Racey has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across different multinationals. She began her career as a Medical Representative and has held varying positions of increasing responsibility within general management, marketing, and commercial functions. In her previous role, Racey was the Head of the Novartis Africa Cluster, Pharmaceuticals Division (October 2018 to October 2019) and, prior to this, Country Group Head of English East and the Horn of Africa for about three years.
She has received many accolades: Africa CEO Forum Gender Leader Award 2024; “100 Most Influential African Women in 2023” and Africa’s Most Inspirational Women in Leadership 2022. She was also a “Top 25 Most Powerful Women in C-Suite Impacting Business (Kenya)” in 2021. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) awarded her the 2020 Leading Women Award for outstanding leadership during COVID-19. Besides co-chairing the work stream on Women’s Economic Empowerment and Financial Inclusion commissioned by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Regional Action Group on Africa since 2020, Racey holds other roles. These are: a board member at Pathfinder International, and board member at Nairobi NABO Rotary Club where she is currently serving as Director for International Services and Rotary Foundation and the President Elect Nominee and Director-Membership.
Racey is married and is a mother of two boys. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry-Zoology from Egerton University in Kenya and a Master’s in Business Administration (International Business Management) from the University of Nairobi (U.O.N.) in Kenya.