Career Biography

Doreen Awanga is a senior legal and governance executive with over 12 years of in-house experience across the pharmaceutical, energy and media sectors in East Africa. She currently serves as Group Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Abacus Pharma, a Carlyle Group portfolio company, where she leads the legal, governance and compliance function across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Mauritius. 

In this role, Doreen supports the Group’s strategic and commercial objectives within a highly regulated and increasingly complex pharmaceutical environment. Her responsibilities span strategic commercial arrangements, cross-border transactions, distribution and supply agreements, regulatory matters, major contractual negotiations, corporate governance, company secretarial matters and the management of disputes with potential financial, operational or reputational impact. 

A key focus of her leadership has been strengthening the position of the legal function as a strategic partner to the business. Doreen believes that legal teams create the greatest value when they are involved at the point where business strategy and commercial decisions are being developed, rather than only when documentation is required or a dispute has arisen. This approach enables legal risk to be identified earlier, supports more informed decision-making and allows the business to pursue growth opportunities with greater confidence. 

Her role within a private-equity-backed business has also reinforced the importance of strong governance, disciplined risk management, accountability and close alignment between legal strategy and broader business objectives. She works collaboratively with leadership and operational teams to ensure that legal and governance considerations support sustainable growth and long-term value creation. 

Beyond her legal and governance responsibilities, Doreen is passionate about improving livelihoods and access to basic needs. Working in the pharmaceutical sector has reinforced her appreciation that behind every regulatory approval, distribution arrangement, supply agreement and commercial decision is ultimately a patient whose access to safe and effective healthcare may be affected. 

She is equally committed to developing the next generation of African legal professionals. She believes senior lawyers have a responsibility to support emerging talent in developing not only technical legal expertise, but also commercial judgement, confidence, leadership capability and an understanding of the broader role that legal professionals can play in shaping successful organisations.