Philip Morris Names Buena Barnes First Female GM in South Africa

• Philip Morris International named Buena Barnes its new general manager for its operations in South Africa
• Barnes was formerly the financial director for Sub-Saharan Africa
• She will add financial skills, knowledge of the market, and leadership expertise in her new capacity

Philip Morris International has appointed Buena Barnes as its new general manager in South Africa. This is the first time a female has been appointed to this role in the country.

The new position was announced on 12th January 2026 and is subsequent to her position as Financial Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Buena provides considerable knowledge regarding finance to this position. Since her induction in Philip Morris South Africa four years ago, she has been instrumental in their initiative to provide science-backed alternatives to traditional smoking for adult smokers.

She has an experience in senior finance and strategy roles at GlaxoSmithKline South Africa and British American Tobacco South Africa, giving her unique exposure to the pharmaceutical as well as the tobacco sector. This gives her the ability to handle a regulated business as well as bring about change in the same.

This is in sync with the Philip Morris International values of equity, diversity, and inclusion, which they consider indispensable in facilitating the integration of innovation into their business.

The company finds itself in these days of shifting its focus and prioritizing the transition into the smoke-free products division, with iQOS heated tobacco products leading the way into this transition.

Even though smoke-free products largely make up the global revenues in these days, any form of adjust in Africa is being resisted in consideration of their costs and hassles.

The tobacco sector within South Africa is also struggling due to factors such as strict regulating laws, taxes, and the illegal tobacco sector, which plays a significant part in consumption.

The cigarette sector within South Africa is projected to reach a value of 18.7 billion USD by 2029, according to a report made by Statista. On the contrary, the tobacco sector within Africa is projected to reach 10.5 billion USD by 2033 with a CAGR of 1.9 percent according to a report made by IMARC Group.

Buena has welcomed Philip Morris’ transformation plan and strategy and its emphasis on science, technology, and sustainability investment. She feels that this is a way of bringing out positive developments for adult smokers and for society at large.

Her appointment is also a strong point for Philip Morris South Africa regarding innovative ideas for the company at a time when the world is experiencing varied penetration levels of heated tobacco products as a category, with Japan and some European nations registering a better penetration rate than other countries.

The move by Barnes is part of the general trend in South Africa's corporate world where women are underrepresented in the managerial workforce despite advancements at the board director level.

Women make up about 25 percent of the executive workforce in the JSE Top 40 companies; hence the move by First Rand is considered a move in the right direction in the industry of tobacco products.