Clouds of corruption hang over SABMiller’s new brewery in Onitsha
This would not be Nigeria if a new project did not immediately drown in a mire of alleged or factual corruption. Same with SABMiller’s new 500,000 hl brewery in Onitsha, Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria, which is the brewer’s first greenfield brewery in the country. It was officially opened on 30 August 2012, in the presence of Nigeria’s President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
SABMiller reported that work began on the Onitsha site in 2011, following an investment of over USD100 million, making it the largest single investment in Anambra State for almost 20 years.
Allegations of corruption have been flying around the internet for months, following a press report in May 2012 in which Peter Stuttard, the Business Development Manager of SABMiller, said that 22.5 percent of the new brewery is owned by indigenous entrepreneurs, with 10 percent for the Anambra State Government, while other private local investors have 12.5 percent.
This alerted hacks in Nigeria, who always seem to smell a rat when they hear of private local investors taking a stake in a venture.
Some started digging and found out that the brewery is owned by Intafact Beverages Ltd., which has only three shareholders.
I am not sure you can rely on Nigerian registries for their veracity. But this is what the hacks have discovered. Allegedly, SABMiller owns the majority of shares (82.5 percent) and the State of Anambra 10 percent. The really interesting nugget of information concerns the so-called private investors. To all appearances it’s only one private investor, a company by the name of Next International, which – I repeat – allegedly has 7.5 percent of the shares. Guess who owns Next International? If Nigerian media are to be believed, it’s Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and his family.
When The Sun newspaper (who knows which Nigerian big man is behind it) released this information on 28 August 2012, the blogosphere went into overdrive with outrage.
It’s never considered kosher if government officials dabble their hands in business affairs while holding office. But in this case the coincidences are too many – if true – to make the dark clouds that hang over the Onitsha brewery blow away any time soon.
