Recently spotlighted by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the organisation representing the interests of Kenya’s private sector, Paloma Lengema stands out among Africa’s leading business executives. Since March 2024, she has served as Managing Director of BIC in East Africa, with the mission of strengthening the French group’s presence across markets with diverse characteristics.
Paloma Lengema’s international journey began in 1997 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid political turmoil that forced her family into exile. She was just nine years old when Mobutu Sese Seko, who had been in power for 32 years, was overthrown. Together with her parents, she left the country in a hurry. The family believed they would eventually return. But that long-awaited return never happened.
A new chapter began, marked by constant travel, encounters and the discovery of new horizons. She grew up in Paris before experiencing different cultural and professional environments. The United States, Amsterdam, Sweden and London are among the places where she has lived, before Africa once again became central to her life.
Today, based in Nairobi, she oversees BIC’s operations in East Africa, covering three product categories that are part of consumers’ everyday lives: stationery, lighters and shavers. In leading these operations, she focuses on market development, strengthening brand visibility and promoting innovation.
Her appointment as Managing Director of BIC in East Africa in 2024 marked the culmination of 12 years of experience within the French group, during which she worked across several continents.
African market expertise
Before taking the helm of BIC in East Africa, Paloma Lengema had already developed an in-depth understanding of African markets from Abidjan. From January 2023 to April 2024, she served as Senior Marketing Manager for BIC in West and Central Africa.
This experience enabled her to deepen her knowledge of African markets and address commercial challenges specific to territories with different consumer habits and distribution networks.
However, Paloma Lengema’s experience in Africa began long before her time in Abidjan. From January 2019 to December 2022, she had already been based in Nairobi, where she headed BIC’s marketing operations in East Africa. During those four years, she became familiar with regional consumers, distribution networks and the tools capable of supporting growth across the group’s various product categories.
When she returned to Nairobi in 2024 to take on the regional Managing Director role, she was therefore stepping back into an environment she already knew. Her appointment reflects the continuity of the hands-on experience she had built through her various responsibilities across the continent.
Beyond her professional responsibilities, Kenya has also come to hold a special place in her personal life.
In a 2026 interview with Kenyan media outlet Nation Media, Paloma Lengema acknowledged that she had found a home away from home in Kenya. When she arrived in Nairobi in 2019 to work for BIC, she had not expected to stay long-term. Her assignment was initially meant to last three years. Then the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted timelines and changed the course of both her professional and personal life. It was also in Kenya that she met the man who is now her husband.
Marketing in the Middle East
Before making Africa one of her main areas of focus, Paloma Lengema also gained significant experience in the Middle East. From June 2014 to July 2017, she served as Senior Brand Manager in the United Arab Emirates, before becoming Marketing Manager for the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region, based in Dubai, from July 2017 to December 2018.
These roles allowed her to broaden her understanding of regional marketing and gain insight into the challenges of managing brands across multicultural environments. They also expanded her scope of responsibility, moving from managing a single product category or market to overseeing activities across an entire region.
Her experience in the Middle East strengthened her international expertise, which she subsequently put to use in her African roles, where understanding local market realities is essential to adapting marketing strategies and growing brands.
From the United States to Scandinavia: her early specialisation at BIC
Paloma Lengema’s career at BIC was not built solely in the Middle East and Africa. Before moving to Dubai, she also worked in the United States, Sweden and France, gradually developing experience across different markets and product categories.
From October 2013 to July 2014, she joined BIC Graphic USA in Clearwater, Florida, where she worked in marketing. This experience in the American market introduced her to a new business environment and broadened her understanding of marketing practices.
A few months earlier, from January to September 2013, she had joined BIC Nordic in the Gothenburg region of Sweden as Junior TMM Shavers. Assigned to the shavers category, she contributed to marketing activities related to this product range and became familiar with the challenges of managing and developing a product category.
Her journey within the group had, however, begun in France. In April 2012, she joined BIC as a Junior Product Manager, a position she held until December of that year. There, she acquired the fundamentals of product management, product range monitoring and coordination between marketing and commercial objectives. This first experience marked the starting point of a career that would gradually lead her towards international leadership responsibilities.
Formative experiences in the consumer goods industry
Before joining BIC, Paloma Lengema had already gained initial experience with major international consumer goods companies. These early roles, undertaken at the beginning of her career, allowed her to become familiar with marketing principles, brand development and the challenges of expanding brands across different markets.
From July 2011 to April 2012, she worked at L’Oréal in Paris and the surrounding region as an Assistant Marketing Project Manager in International Development for the L’Oréal Professionnel brand. There, she discovered the demands of international marketing and the challenges of positioning a brand across markets with diverse expectations.
Earlier, from February to August 2010, she had joined Fromageries Bel as an Assistant Product Manager for La Vache qui rit, covering the African region. This experience introduced her to the challenges of developing an iconic brand across African markets. It was her first professional exposure to the continent, which would take centre stage in her career a few years later.
Her international outlook was further shaped by an experience at Heineken International from July to December 2009. As a Marketing Intern for the Africa and Middle East region, she contributed in particular to the development of online marketing tools and event planning. These early assignments laid the foundations for a professional journey that would eventually take her into marketing leadership roles across several continents.
Early experiences that shaped her hands-on approach
Long before making marketing the core of her professional career, Paloma Lengema had already explored several different fields. These early experiences exposed her to the realities of working life, customer interaction and the demands of environments as diverse as creative design, education, accounting and retail.
Between September 2008 and January 2009, she worked as an Assistant Designer in connection with the Maison & Objet trade fair, gaining exposure to the world of creativity and design. At the same time, from October 2008 to June 2009, she worked as a mathematics tutor at Acadomia, a role that drew on her teaching abilities, listening skills and interpersonal strengths.
In 2006, she completed an internship in the accounting department of PEFACO Iberica in Barcelona, where she helped review accounting documents and process data using Excel. That same year, from August to November, she worked as a Sales Assistant and Cashier at Petit Bateau. This retail experience familiarised her with customer service, commercial operations and product presentation, while also giving her the opportunity to help train new employees.
Although these early roles were far removed from her current responsibilities, they gave her practical insight into how organisations operate, what customers expect and the realities of day-to-day business operations. These skills and experiences would go on to enrich her approach to marketing and business development.
An academic background focused on marketing and international business
Paloma Lengema’s career is also supported by a strong academic background in management, marketing and communications. She holds a Master’s degree in Marketing and Communications from ESCP Business School, one of France’s leading business schools.
She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management and a Master 1 in Marketing and Strategy from Université Paris-Dauphine. This academic background provided her with solid foundations in management, business strategy and communications, which she has been able to apply throughout her professional career.
In addition, she completed two exchange semesters at The George Washington University in the United States during the 2007–2008 academic year, as part of her business administration studies.
A strong and lasting connection with the DRC
The years have passed and borders have changed, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo has never ceased to hold a special place in Paloma Lengema’s personal story. In her interview with Nation Media, this attachment is particularly evident in the culinary memories she associates with her country of origin.
She speaks fondly of pondu, an iconic Congolese dish made from cassava leaves. Beyond its flavours, the dish brings back memories of a country and a culture that continue to accompany her despite the distance.
Plantains also feature prominently in her food memories. Paloma Lengema also recalls the dishes prepared by her grandmother, family flavours she can only rediscover when she returns to the Congo to visit her loved ones.
The DRC therefore remains much more than a country she was forced to leave in a hurry. It represents a family heritage, traditions and memories that transcend time and borders. Even far from her birthplace, Paloma Lengema maintains a living connection with her roots, sustained by family reunions, memories and everyday traditions.
Exile, therefore, has not erased this attachment. Instead, it has woven it into a different reality, one in which memories, culinary traditions and family ties keep the Congo alive in her personal story.
