SABMiller’s new brewery up and running
After importing beer into Namibia for over 20 years, SABMiller finally in mid-August 2014 had its own brewery up and running. It’s located in Okahandja, 70 km north of the Namibian capital Windhoek.
SABMiller’s plan to launch a ground offensive in Namibia has endured a lengthy delay. The Okahandja project was initially set to enter construction phase in 2010 but seems to have been delayed by rezoning obstacles until 2013.
The installed capacity of the brewery is 260,000 hl per annum, which can be expanded to 400,000 hl. The brewery represents an investment of about USD 40 million. It is said to provide 100 fulltime jobs.
Media report that SABMiller will seek to make use of local suppliers whose products and services meet global brewing standards.
The brewery is 60 percent owned by SABSA Holdings (Pty) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller and 40 percent by local Namibian partners comprising 20 percent Onyewu Investments (Pty) Ltd and 20 percent by three charitable trusts to benefit local communities.
SABMiller currently has an estimated 22 percent local market share through brands such as Castle Lager, Carling Black Label and Peroni Nastro Azzurro.
Its competitor is Namibia Breweries Ltd (NBL), which was founded in 1920 and in 2003 took drinks company Diageo and brewer Heineken for its strategic partners.
Namibia is relatively a small market with a total population of about 2.1million people. Its per capita beer consumption is quoted at around 40 litres per annum which is quite high by African standards. This means that the market is not there for the taking. Market observers suspect that some serious wrestling for market share is going to take place between SABMiller and NBL. By comparison South Africa’s per capita beer consumption sits at 60 litres per year.
