When Santosh Gumte assumed the role of Managing Director at Kansai Plascon Uganda Limited, he initiated a transformation characterized by trust-building, operational efficiency, and a people-first approach to progress. “Over the last 23 years with Kansai Plascon Uganda, my Indian roots have given me both strength and flexibility—qualities that became vital in navigating Uganda’s unique business landscape,” he shares.
Those early days weren’t easy. With a team drawn from across Uganda and the region, cultural differences weren’t a hurdle but the starting line. Building trust across backgrounds required more than policies; it needed presence, patience, and consistent engagement. As managing director, Santosh found himself in the thick of it, leading through infrastructure challenges, currency fluctuations, and supply chain uncertainties, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Balancing cash flow, managing inventory, and keeping stakeholders aligned through all of this demanded more than spreadsheets. It called for empathy and decisive action. He reflects that real empowerment never stems from control but from trust, situational awareness, and giving people the space to contribute with meaning and purpose.
Today, that foundation holds strong. Kansai Plascon is East Africa’s largest paint company, powered by a team that combines global expertise with in-depth local knowledge. Their success, Santosh believes, is proof that when you lead with inclusivity and intention, progress becomes inevitable.
It’s the same mindset he brings to the table today as managing director—steady, human-centred, and concentrated on building something that endures.
Empowering Leadership, Embodied
When Santosh speaks about empowering leadership, it is not framed as a concept. It is something lived, practiced, and built into the daily rhythm of his team at Kansai Plascon. For him, real empowerment begins when people feel trusted enough to lead, supported enough to grow, and inspired enough to contribute meaningfully.
He fosters a workplace where autonomy is not granted selectively but embedded into the culture. People are encouraged to own decisions, challenge norms, and stretch beyond their roles. Resources, mentorship, and psychological safety are not afterthoughts. They are the scaffolding behind every team win.
This leadership philosophy has not gone unnoticed. Santosh’s ability to turn belief into structure and vision into collective action is precisely what earned him a spot among Africa’s 10 Most Empowering Business Leaders to Watch in 2025. His legacy is not measured by individual milestones but by how many others he equips to build their own.
Rethinking Growth Through People-Driven Initiatives
Upskilling at Kansai Plascon doesn’t wait for annual reviews. Team members move across departments, stretch into new responsibilities, and access learning platforms that meet them where they are. The firm is shaping a workplace where every individual grows into a more versatile, future-ready version of themselves.
Recognizing that innovation thrives on clarity and confidence, Kansai Plascon maintains a structured channel of transparent communication. This openness ensures that staff feel safe expressing their ideas and taking accountability.
Additionally, the organization broadens its developmental approach through strategic collaborations. Partnering with the UK-based educational firm Perk of the Job, Kansai Plascon provides key team members access to tailored e-learning platforms and interactive training opportunities.
Further amplifying this mindset, Santosh highlights their commitment to global exposure. By sponsoring employee participation in international exhibitions, the company ensures that its workforce absorbs emerging trends and advancements.
Nurturing Talent
“Talent development is a cornerstone of Kansai Plascon’s operational strategy,” notes Santosh. Growth is deliberately cultivated through clear pathways rather than being left to chance or time. Potential is spotted early through performance insight and sharpened with mentorship that stretches both skill and mindset.
Rather than relying on rigid ladders, the company encourages people to shape their own ascent, stepping beyond their role and showcasing what they bring to the table. Career paths are built on personal strengths, team needs, and strategic fit, ensuring every move adds value to both the business and the individual.
Santosh adds that with targeted leadership training, skill accelerators, and cross-functional exposure, Kansai Plascon creates a work environment where capability is amplified and contribution never goes unrecognized.
Measuring Impact, Sustaining Empowerment
When asked how he evaluates the influence of his leadership style, Santosh points to signals that often go unnoticed in upper tiers but speak volumes across the floor. For him, emboldened leadership reveals itself in staff morale, operational traction, and the calibre of outcomes delivered.
At Kansai Plascon, engagement is gauged regularly through dialogue-driven check-ins, tailored feedback loops, and frequent performance appraisals. Retention patterns, innovation-led contributions, and participation in social upliftment programs offer additional insight into how deeply the culture resonates.
Santosh emphasizes that clear, transparent communication is key. It keeps individuals tethered to shared goals while giving them latitude to own their efforts. For him, leadership is not just about steering outcomes but about enabling people to produce them.
From Paint to Purpose: Plascon’s Community Commitment
Strategically designed, community empowerment is integral to Kansai Plascon’s operations. Santosh informs that the company channels up to UGX 2 billion each year into grassroots initiatives that blend skills, dignity, and opportunity. Their painter training program, which reaches 10,000 individuals annually across Uganda, has also expanded into Eastern D.R. Congo, South Sudan, and Burundi, shaping livelihoods across borders.
In local communities, the company transforms more than just walls. Collaborating with nonprofit partners, Kansai Plascon donates paint and services to public schools, hospitals, health centres, churches, mosques, and police stations, giving these essential spaces a fresh start and restoring pride to the people who rely on them.
Santosh also sees sport as a vehicle for ambition. From football to motorsport, the company invests in athletic potential across disciplines. Their latest collaboration with the Uganda Olympic Committee marks a major step in backing national athletes at the 2024 Paris Games.
Equally vital is cultural preservation. “We believe that culture is fundamental to the development of a civilised and tolerant society,” Santosh affirms. That belief has led to long-standing partnerships with the Buganda, Tooro, Busoga, and Bunyoro Kingdoms. Through joint tree-planting drives, health camps, and restoration of heritage buildings, Kansai Plascon continues to support the soul of Uganda efficiently.
Expanding Empowerment Beyond the Factory Walls
Kansai Plascon’s next chapter reaches further than internal growth. The company is scaling its impact by investing in broader community infrastructure. Santosh shares that they are establishing regional offices for painters’ associations, each outfitted with air compressors and scaffolding. These spaces will allow painters to organize into savings groups and bid for larger contracts, ultimately unlocking stronger income potential.
Simultaneously, the company is joining forces with the Society of Architects in Uganda to deliver ongoing training for architects and interior designers. These development programs are designed to elevate industry standards while opening new dimensions for professional progress.
Through these initiatives, Kansai Plascon is nurturing an ecosystem where skills, tools, and opportunity converge. The ambition is to spark long-term economic mobility and foster collective progress across the value chain.
Diversity by Design, Inclusion by Intention
“An empowered workforce is an inclusive one,” Santosh affirms. Discussing diversity and inclusion, he notes that they are embedded in how the business runs daily. The objective is to build a workplace that thrives on unique perspectives and experiences. Kansai Plascon actively recruits talent from diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, ensuring that both men and women have equal opportunities to grow. Leadership isn’t limited by gender either. Women hold key roles, from Factory Manager to Head of Quality Control, Administration, and Customer Care. It is this fusion of backgrounds that powers the company’s ingenuity, integrity, and perpetual progress.
Enabling Ownership Through Effective Leadership
In Santosh’s philosophy, leadership is about guidance without governance. It’s confidence that hands over the baton—an empowerment without abdication. Direction and clarity provide the framework; the veteran agrees, but he feels that trust is what prompts performance. The result is what can be seen as activated accountability—a culture where people step up not because they are told to, but because they are equipped and relied upon to do so. Santosh believes that when employees understand expectations yet are given the freedom to create their methods, they respond with ownership, ingenuity, and purpose. Recognition of effort and room to explore sends a clear message that real leadership is about guiding and enabling others rather than controlling them.
Rooted in Humility, Reframed by Experience
Early lessons from home shaped Santosh’s perspective, which holds that actual strength lies not in asserting authority but in amplifying others. That belief deepened through mentorship and cross-cultural exchange in Uganda, where business leaders from diverse backgrounds encouraged him to trade hierarchy for obuvumu (a Luganda word meaning collective courage). The principle “Listen first, decide last” emerged.
A climacteric moment came during a costly error at their Namanve plant. Instead of intervening, he stepped aside. The team redesigned the quality system from the ground up, revealing brilliance that structure alone could never ignite.
These encounters taught him that leadership without vulnerability is incomplete. By backing initiatives like their university internship pipeline, which has produced standout hires and supervisors, Santosh continues to prove that meaningful innovation begins when pride takes a backseat.
Most Proud Achievements That Uplift and Extend
At Kansai Plascon, fostering an inclusive, upwardly mobile workplace stands among its proudest milestones. Employees are not only supported but truly valued. Beyond the company walls, their work ripples outward—from education and green initiatives to hands-on skill building. These endeavours have positioned the company as a leader in corporate social responsibility. As Santosh puts it, “These achievements reflect our dedication to making empowerment not just a concept, but an actionable reality.”
Seeding Progress That Multiplies
Santosh believes the real test of a company’s vision lies in what it leaves behind: systems, people, and possibilities that continue to thrive long after the spotlight fades. At Kansai Plascon, this belief shapes every decision. Instead of isolated programs, empowerment is incorporated into everything they do. It is treated less as a milestone and more as a multiplier. Every training module, social initiative, and innovation cue is designed not only to advance the business but to widen the circle of opportunity. The company’s long-term strategy doesn’t separate profit from purpose. It treats workforce development, environmental responsibility, and technological evolution as interdependent levers of transformation.
To Santosh, the goal isn’t to lead from the top but to formulate strength at every tier so that people, partners, and communities rise in tandem. It’s about building mechanisms that deliver consistently, visibly, and at scale. That’s how leadership becomes legacy.
Advice for Future African Business Leaders
This sagacious professional is clear-eyed about one thing: empowerment isn’t a CSR line item. It’s a strategic imperative. He urges the next generation of African business leaders to treat their teams not as cost centres but as motivators. That means investing in continuous learning, building inclusive cultures, and listening as often as directing.
“Sustainable business success is achieved when employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated to contribute,” he notes.
Santosh believes that such a framework should stretch beyond conventional workspaces. From vocational skilling to community-rooted partnerships, he supports business models that contribute to the well-being of the wider economic and social community. For him, the ultimate value of an accomplishment is measured by how far the impact travels.
